Streamline
by MarySuOfYay
Summary: TF:A. This was definitely not Bumblebee's room. For one thing, his room didn't have a large Decepticon symbol on the wall.. Non-con, in a giant robots from SPACE kind of way. Whee!
1. Chapter 1

_Author notes: I'm such a fangirl. I was disappointed by what I found in other similar fics, so decided to write my own. I may or may not have been inspired by other fics that may or may not exist. Maybe. I dunno. Do you? O_O_

_Warnings: Technically non-con in a giant-robots-from-SPACE kind of way. Take from that what you will. May get worse later on; we'll see what my brain comes up with._

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**Streamline: Chapter One**

_Violence is an energy_

_Against the enemy_

_Violence is an energy_

_Bringing on the fury_

_The choir infantry_

_Revolt against the honor to obey_

_Silence is the enemy_

_Against your urgency_

_So rally up the demons of your soul_

-- "Know the Enemy", Green Day

Considering the abandoned warehouse the Autobots were using as a base was largely unmaintained, it wasn't a surprise that walls and ceilings had been crumbling. Some rooms that had been mid-construction before the entire site was abandoned now lacked walls, or windows, or even most of the ceiling. For the most part, the Autobots didn't mind; the weather wasn't too much of a concern, considering what they were.

When the building would be thoroughly flooded with daylight when the sun rose to greet them, it was natural. It served as a pleasant alarm clock in some rooms; Prowl, for example, had found sanctuary in a room lacking one wall entirely. He had even made a partially indoor garden. Where he had learned to garden was entirely unknown.

The bright light of the sun gently tugged at Bumblebee's dim optics now. Being a slightly more laid back bot -- or lazy, as Optimus Prime would put it --, he refused to greet the day. In fact, he woke from recharge only to cover his optics with an arm.

Still, the light was being persistent. It must have been a very bright, cloudless day; normally, he wouldn't have this much light in his single-windowed room. Sari had recently gifted him with some window curtains; after a few seconds, he decided the best course of action was to wake up to close the curtains in question.

Bumblebee onlined his optics with a grumble, a little groggy; he was always a little slow in the morning, his systems typically getting their first kick from a nice cube of mid-grade energon. Even only partially awake, he quickly noticed that he wasn't in his room.

For one thing, his room usually didn't have such a large, nearly wall-to-wall window. For another, the warehouse was nowhere near the beach, so he probably shouldn't be seeing the broad expanse of ocean outside said strange pane-glass.

"..Um.." Well, now he was out of recharge, and he was baffled. Not quite concerned, yet; his central processor was still trying to catch up with the world. Glancing around, he decided that what his slowly-working processor was suggesting was probably accurate; this wasn't his bed -- which was quite a bit larger than he was used to --, the room was incredibly large and certainly not his own, and absolutely nothing in the room belonged to him.

The giant Decepticon logo painted on the wall certainly wasn't his, either.

The yellow Autobot stared at the symbol for a few seconds, the last bit of fatigue finally fading away. It was then that he noticed he was wearing a rather cumbersome and very uncomfortable metal collar. Said collar was connected to the wall with a long strip of thick snake chain.

Well, now he was starting to worry. Starting to panic, in fact. Especially since he couldn't quite recall how he had gotten there; the last thing he remembered was falling in to recharge while playing Ninja Gladiator 2. This happened frequently enough; usually, he'd wake up on the couch.

This was definitely not the couch.

For a few cycles, Bumblebee tugged at the chain and collar, trying to dislodge it; he was trying to disconnect the entire chain from the base, one foot firmly on the wall in his effort, when he heard footsteps. He stilled, foot still on the wall, and looked to the suddenly open doorway.

His optics followed along as Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, calmly walked inside. Without even looking at the chained Autobot, he picked up a half-empty energon cube from a table and walked back out. The door slid shut of it's own accord.

Bumblebee stayed in that same position, looking to the closed door with shock. "..Oh, _slag_."

Frantically, he renewed his attempts on the chain and metal. After a solid breem of absolutely no success, the yellow bot gave up, intake coming in fast from panic. A quick check of his own frame and systems found all of his weapons either gone or deactivated, and his comm bracelet nowhere in sight.

He resorted to swearing profusely at the metal chain, sitting on the floor and tugging on the collar. He didn't know why he wasn't offline -- the Decepticons were not known for keeping prisoners for very long --, but he didn't want to stay to find out.

The sun was halfway across the sky, out of view of the window entirely, by the time Bumblebee tired completely. He sat, arms folded, by the base of the chain, grumbling, clinging to the annoyance kept the fear and worry at bay. The rest of the day was spent staring out the large window, taking in the rare sight of snow falling over the ocean. There was no ocean view near Detroit; only lakes, and they had a habit of freezing over in the winter.

By the time the sun began to set, his fuel tank let out a rumble, automated systems scraping for every last drop of energon. Typically, Bumblebee would drink several cubes of energon by this time, but he hadn't had one yet. As he glared at the general direction of his own tank, a soft 'swish' whispered in the air; the door was open again.

Bumblebee looked up in alarm, watching with wide-optic silence as the gray-painted leader of the Decepticon forces walked in again. A wild, shrill cackle -- the crazy side that was Blitzwing -- echoed from down the hall, silenced abruptly as the door slid shut again.

The yellow Autobot said nothing, standing slowly. He naturally assumed that the Decepticon leader would eventually say or do something to let him know why he had been kidnapped. Although, being left alone for so many hours hadn't been expected, either; so, he simply followed Megatron with his optics, waiting.

The Decepticon leader in question stopped to stare at the small yellow mech with narrowed optics, as if not quite knowing what he was doing there.

Bumblebee had never been able to handle silence for very long, and the importance of the situation did nothing to quell the annoyance. In fact, he outright glared at the imposing mech that towered above him. "I won't tell you anything about Allspark fragments or where our base is or anything!"

Megatron moved so quickly, Bumblebee saw little more than a blur; next thing he knew, a dark hand was around his throat -- pressing the collar in painfully -- and slamming him against the wall. Yellow and black feet flailed in the air. "Hey, put me down!"

"I already know the location of that warehouse you call a base." Megatron's expression didn't change, stoic. Not so much as a smirk at what those words meant.

"You're lying." For a brief moment, Bumblebee stopped flailing, gripping the hand around his throat. "Or I'd be offline."

For a moment, the Decepticon and Autobot simply glared at each other. After several nano-kliks, the Decepticon Lord finally reached in, kissing the small Autobot.

Bumblebee stilled again, sensory pupils dilating in shock and sudden horror. The kiss didn't last long, and when Megatron pulled away to stare in that same quiet anger, the small Autobot gaped. "Oh, slag."

He quite suddenly found himself flying, only to land hard on the large bed he had been chained next to for so many hours. He didn't have time to get his thoughts in order or to push aside the processor-freezing panic; Megatron was on top of him, still silent and still glaring. The collar and chain was forgotten completely; he flailed, kicking and punching.

"Get off get off get off get _off_!" The Autobot hissed in terrified fury.

Megatron still said nothing; he silently straddled the bot who was barely more than half his size, pinning both yellow hands with one of his own. The other groped the small bots' chassis; it took a long cycle to find the hidden seams and latches and, even with Bumblebee's struggling and loud swearing, the armor's protective casing was torn open.

"What are you doing?!" Bumblebee shrieked with that protective anger, knowing full well his spark chamber was exposed.

The returned silence was maddening; the Autobot was so used to the bizarre banter the Decepticons tended to fire back with that hearing absolutely nothing when such a terrible crime was about to be committed was outright infuriating.

"_Say something!_"

Megatron was silent. He glared down coldly, optics narrowing further as he opened up his own chassis. He then shifted positions, lowering ever so slightly, allowing the two delicate sparks to meet.

Sparkbonding worked in strange ways, sometimes; when two sparks met in joy, caressing each other in a symphony of affection, they literally exchanged a small part of themselves. The switch was often sensual and divinely pleasurable as a piece of one spark replaced another.

When a bonding was committed by force, the victimized half had a strong chance of permanent off-lining. A spark could be so desperate to escape, so thoroughly unwilling to give up part of itself and take in the other, the glowing sphere that made a bots very existence could forcefully tear free of it's own casing to escape.

Despite Bumblebee's vast inexperience -- partially due to youth, mostly due to pickiness -- he knew exactly how a bonding worked and he truly wanted no part of this one. He offlined his optics, but chose not to escape; instead, he focused, willing his very core to fight. Somehow, his spark did as told; his spark clutched at itself, refusing to allow the other in. It neither cowered nor fled, standing it's ground, so to speak, within it's casing.

"Get _off!_" The Autobot wasn't going to give this up without a fight.

Megatron blinked his optics briefly in surprise, but then growled in annoyance. His free hand pulled back and clenched in to a fist, striking the chained mech harshly.

Bumblebee yelped in sudden shock, not expecting the fist to hit his face. The second blow caused the optic beneath to glitch and briefly online; the third sent a dizzying array of flashing lights dancing in his vision, which promptly offlined again. The fourth was a complete distraction from the battle being waged.

Still, the small Autobot held firm. Despite shrieks of pain from either the physical blows or the assault on his very spark, he refused to waver. His cooling systems worked in overdrive to try and reverse the overheating that had begun quite a while ago, a soft dew forming from the meeting of hot and cold. The soft trickle of water fell off both of the warriors and on to the bed; the condensation falling from Megatron actually helped cool Bumblebee's systems better.

It was nearly half a groon before the blows stopped raining and the fight stopped altogether; much to Bumblebee's surprise, it was Megatron who backed off first, his spark retreating from the smaller Autobot's.

"Impressive." The Decepticon gasped, optics slightly wider than they had been before as he closed his spark chamber and outer armor. He did not perform the same curtousy for the small Autobot.

It took Bumblebee a moment to realize just what had happened; the horridly intimate battle had been waged, and the Autobot had actually _won_; he had successfully warded Megatron off. It was only then that he grinned, unafraid of allowing himself to fall in to recharge; offline bots couldn't be forced to bond.

As he fell in to a deep recharge, Bumblebee could have sworn he felt Megatron lay down beside him.

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_Violence is an energy_

_From here to eternity_

_Violence is an energy_

_Silence is the enemy_

_So gimme, gimme revolution_

_Overthrow the effigy_

_The vast majority_

_We're burning down the bargain of control_

-- "Know Your Enemy", Green Day


	2. Chapter 2

Author notes: I wrote most of this while horribly sick with the stomach virus. I couldn't sleep at 6AM, so.. May be a bit funky. Still, my brain refused to let me NOT write at the time. XD;;

P.A.W.07: Hey. You. Finish 'Promise Not To Tell', dangit. It's one of my inspirations. XD

And, wait, what? I'm writing this _well_? ... That wasn't my intention at all. D:

Warnings: You have to ask by this point? ... Giant robots from space style rape. I guess? ..Maybe a warning for copious use of italics. =D

Also, it is me, or is 'Sumdac' a poor choice of last names? o_O

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_You stormed off to scar the armada_

_Like Jesus played letter, I'll drill through your hands_

_The stone for the curse you have blamed me_

_With love and devotion, I'll die as you sleep_

-- "Welcome Home", Coheed & Cambria

**Streamline: Chapter Two**

By the time Bumblebee's systems allowed the deep recharge to end -- a sleep that had been so deep, there hadn't even been the sensory echoes of dreams --, the sun was well along it's journey across the sky. A quick check with a strangely ancient, Earth-esque clock on the wall proclaimed the local time to be somewhere along the mid morning hours. Why the Decepticons had ticking-hand style clocks was a brief curiosity as the last bit of lethargy grew distant.

It took a few cycles longer for memory to return. When it did, the Autobot sat up with alarm, looking around wildly. He was alone again -- although still chained with that terribly annoying collar -- and his spark chamber was still wide open. With a small growl, the yellow mech closed it back up, taking care to make certain his outer armor was locked up as tightly as he could to cover the nudity.

Perhaps it was the way the sun was set in the sky, or perhaps it was the dark clouds therein, but a flash of odd color caught the corner of bright blue optics. Bumblebee looked up slowly, staring at an oddly placed beam in the large room. The day before, he had assumed it was a support beam that had been covered up for aesthetic reasons; someone had even gone to the trouble of coating it with stucco. He peered at it, staring at an unusual reflection from the beam. Why would gritty stucco have a reflection?

Slightly curious -- and not having much else to distract the deeply set worry --, Bumblebee slid off the bed and made his way to the beam. The snake chain tethering him to the wall was long enough, and although it didn't allow him to reach it, he was able to get within a foot. The oddly reflecting surface served as a mirror for a moment, and he winced at how his own face looked; it seemed Megatron had hit him several times over a single optic, creating a deep dent -- miraculously leaving the optic itself intact. The metal had warped, paint darkening, appearing similar to what humans called a 'bruise'.

It was all just out of reach; he pulled on the chain, not entirely sure why he found it so important just to touch the thing. After a few short seconds, he balanced on one foot and tapped it with the other. It took several tries to make contact with the very tip of one bumper.

The entire panel of the beam lit up; a flat-panel screen with a set of numbers -- suspiciously resembling a human phone's layout -- suddenly appeared.

Bumblebee stopped in surprise, optics widening slightly. He gently kicked the screen again; there was a soft audio 'click' and then the unmistakable sound of a dial tone. Briefly, he noted that a chair was set by the screen; otherwise, the entire system likely would have been placed out of his reach.

It couldn't possibly be this easy.

The yellow mech glanced around the room, half expecting someone to jump out of somewhere to stop him in paranoia. Shaking slightly, he balanced again and attempted to dial. He had to hang up and try again quite a few times before getting the number in correctly.

Although the warehouse the Autobots resided in was largely abandoned, the Sumdacs had hooked up a phone system in case of emergencies involving communicator loss. After all, phones were everywhere in human society; if the need arose to borrow one to call the base, they had a way to do so. The Professor had even managed to make the entire system run on an extension; if someone dialed the number by accident, they'd have to put in another set of keys to directly connect.

Somehow, Bumblebee was shocked to find the call making it through; he managed to tap in the extension number on the first try and waited, still glancing to the door.

It seems the odd phone was equipped with a camera system, automatically activating the one on the other end. A very familiar green mech appeared on the screen.

"Uhm, hello, whoev -- _Bumblebee_?!" Bulkhead practically shrieked his name out. "Where are you, little buddy?! You've been missing for two whole solar cycles!"

"Did you just say Bumblebee?!" That would be a stunned Prowl, somewhere in the background.

Silently, Bumblebee thanked Primus or whoever may have been watching for such luck. "Guys, I am in deep, deep slag, here. You guys have to move, Megatron knows where the warehouse is!"

"What?!" And there was Optimus, practically shoving Bulkhead out of the way. "Bumblebee, where are you?!"

"I.. Uhm.." The stress of it all was finally starting to catch up with his processor. Frenzied, Bumblebee grabbed his own sensory horns. "_I don't know where the slag I am_!" His intake was coming in a little quicker, now. "All I know is that Mega-jerk is here!"

Optimus Prime's face took up most of the screen, but he could see both Bulkhead and Prowl in the corner of the screen. They must have noticed the collar, bruise, and who knew what else by this point, because the slightly terrified worry was practically identical on all their faces.

"Bumblebee, listen to me." Prowl; for some reason, the yellow bot was terribly glad it was Prowl and not Optimus talking to him. Every word was spoken with such emphasis that Bumblebee was practically forced to focus. "Look around. Can you tell us anything that might help us find you?"

"Uh.." Prowl's voice served as an anchor away from complete and utter panic. Bumblebee looked around, distress climbing at how little he found. "There's a window and it's snowing outside, and it's kinda sunny --"

"The sun's still up?" Bulkhead sputtered. "The sun set here two hours ago!"

There was a brief moment of silence. Then, Bumblebee clutched at his sensory horns again, panic setting in. "_Where the frag am I?!"_

"Bumblebee!" Prowl's voice obtained his attention again. "This is important. If an opportunity to escape presents itself, you have to be ready. Try to conserve your strength, do you understand me?"

Bumblebee stopped, slowly staring at the screen with incredulity. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "..You have _got _to be kidding me. You want me to just _let_ these slaggers beat me up or Primus knows what else?! What, if Mega-jerk comes in here and goes, 'Hey, let's _interface'_, I'm supposed to _let_ him?!"

By the look on Prowl's face, it seemed he was taking the 'interface' bit as an exaggeration. "If it means conserving your energy.."

"I would listen to your Autobot friends, if I were you." The cold, subtle anger in Megatron's voice came from behind him.

Bumblebee let out a yelp, turning so fast that he actually fell on his aft.

"Leave him alone, Megatron!" Optimus's voice came from the phone with a slight growl; Bumblebee had never actually heard him snarl before.

Megatron chose not to respond. Instead, he walked over to the swiftly backpedalling yellow mech, reached down, and grabbed his throat with one large hand. Bumblebee flailed as he was lifted in the air and held in front of the screen.

"Say 'good bye' to your friends, Autobot." The Decepticon's voice was as cold as ever.

Bumblebee looked nothing short of terrified, optics wide. "Eep."

"Leave him alone!" Bulkhead sounded as frightened as he looked.

"Say it." Megatron growled slightly, giving Bumblebee a good shake.

"Ack!" The restrained Autobot flailed again, kicking in the air several short inches off the ground. Prowl's advice was suddenly appealing. "Uhm.. G-Good bye."

Satisfied, The Decepticon leader ended the call with the single press of a button. The screen went back to it's default image; Bumblebee was calmly tossed at the wall.

Bumblebee yelped as he hit the base of the chains, hitting the wall before meeting the floor face-first. He twitched a moment, sitting up and rubbing his side, quickly watching his captor warily. The taller mech walked to the phone and tapped in a few keys; a few cycles later, and the screen shut off entirely.

Megatron was silent again. He barely made a sound as he walked towards his captive, set a single filled cube of energon on the floor next to the yellow mech, and walked away. He left the room entirely without another word.

"..Fragger.." Bumblebee swore, thoroughly baffled. Still, he stared at the cube, fuel tank rumbling on cue. It was likely drugged, but it was better than nothing; so, he took it and drank the entire thing. It didn't fill his empty fuel tank to the brim, but it did feel good just to have _some_thing inside it.

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Bumblebee simply sat there, holding the empty cube for what felt like a long while. The yellow mech didn't pay attention to the sun moving along the sky outside the window, or noticed when the sun was no longer in view; he simply stared inside the cube, processor rambling with thoughts, ideas, plans.

Prowl wanted him to conserve his energy; he could do better than that. A glance back up to the screen, an idea began to form together. Megatron would eventually return -- he simply _knew_ he would and _knew_ that the Decepticon leader was likely going to attempt again what he had the solar cycle before. The 'why' was still rather ambiguous; for now, he didn't particularly care about the 'why'. The more important question was: What was he going to do about it?

The empty cube was set aside, although the small translucent container had been filled with the runoff of the earlier ingested energon. The waste-filled cube was then set on the metal berth that served as Megatron's bed. All of this was simply spur-of-the-moment, transpiring from spite. Then, the yellow mech looked to the stucco-coated beam.

Bumblebee made his way back to the phone. Turning it on was as simple as before, but it now asked for a passkey. The idea forming in his CPU didn't involve actually using the phone; he grabbed hold of the nearby chair and threw it in to the flat screen.

Glass flew everywhere; the Autobot shielded himself with his arm, avoiding the larger shards. The majority of the glass was left on the floor, but he carefully dug through the fragments, choosing a shard and holding it in his hand. From there, he sat by the wall, leaned against it, and waited.

The wait was long and uneventful; thinking deeply, the small mech compared the evening to the one before. Megatron, it seemed, only came in and out of his own chambers in the morning and night. This theory proved to be accurate when, barely an hour after the sun had set, the door let out that familiar hiss.

This time, he was prepared, or so he thought. When Megatron walked in, he simply glared. Even when the Decepticon leader gave the cube of waste and pile of glass an unamused stare, all Bumblebee did was grin. If the Decepticons thought they could hold him against his will, he would give them a run for their credits.

Unfortunately, the attempt to rile Megatron with the cube and shattered phone proved fruitless; the large gray mech simply tossed the cube and everything inside it in a trash bin, and even called a small sweeper drone to clean up the glass. The impish grin faded from Bumblebee's face; still, he waited.

Megatron maintained the same silence from the day before, setting crimson optics on the glaring yellow mech. "Get up."

Bumblebee glared. "Getting right to the chase, huh?" Yet, he stood, fists clenched at his sides.

The Decepticon Lord stalked over to the small Autobot, hand raising -- likely to toss him through the air again. Briefly, Bumblebee wondered why people enjoyed throwing him; even Starscream had juggled him through the air, once. He twitched slightly in annoyance, waiting for just the right moment; the large hand brushed his throat when he leapt.

Megatron's optics flickered in surprise; he hadn't expected the small bot to try an attack. Bumblebee even managed to skillfully stab the glass shard perilously close to an optic. There wasn't a chance to take the makeshift dagger out and try again; the larger mech backhanded the Autobot and sent him flying. The chain pulled short; Bumblebee fell to the ground, coughing at the harsh pull on his intake.

Megatron winced, pulling the shrapnel of glass out of his face; it had almost severed an optic completely. "You shouldn't have done that." Then, he ran at the small Autobot.

Bumblebee barely had time to get to his knees, rubbing his throat over the pulled intake valve, when he found his arms clamped to his sides and dragged backwards. He flailed, hissing. "Let go, slag-face!" The struggling did very little, and he wound up slammed back on Megatron's bizarre four-poster bed.

For someone who proclaimed hate for humanity, the Decepticon leader certainly borrowed their aesthetic style a lot.

"I underestimated you." Megatron remarked as coldly and as calmly as if he was claiming disappointment with the weather, kneeling on the Autobot's chassis to keep him down as he grabbed for the chain connecting the collar to the wall. The snake coil was swiftly wrapped around the small bots' torso, barely an inch below the spark chamber itself, pinning his arms to his side.

Still, Bumblebee flailed his legs and bucked, fury covering up growing panic. "_Creatorless slag --_" The vehement swear ended in a yelp as a large fist met his face. Said fist was joined by a second, blows coming quick and hard.

It was nearly half a breem when the blows stopped coming. By that point, an optic was cracked clean down the middle and flickering, metal around it warped to the point of covering it slightly. The other optic slowly came back online as he gasped in pain; said optic glared fiercely.

The struggles were weaker now, energy stolen through pain in the assault, yellow limbs kicking almost gently. Despite a processor that Bumblebee could have sworn had been dunked in water and left there for the lack of focus he had now, he still tried to fight. He barely felt his spark chamber open, this time, but he certainly felt it when another spark met his own.

It _hurt_. It ached worse than he remembered the first time; he bucked again, letting out a swear that ended in a scream. Agony ripped through the small Autobot as he once again put up a fight against Megatron's attempts; it didn't last quite as long as it had before.

The metaphysical blows went back and forth, a cruel game of wits; the defense was to simply block off all attempts by the aggressor to get through mental shields and forceful shoves. More than once, physical bucking and furious screams helped the smaller spark to keep the larger at bay. What was unexpected was for the attack to come from an entirely different direction; Megatron's spark quickly tilted ever so slightly to the right, propelling itself towards the side and nearly from the back of the Autobot's spark chamber, nearly distending itself entirely out of the Decepticon's chassis.

Bumblebee wasn't entirely certain what happened after that. One moment, he thought he could fight the powerful Decepticon the same way he had been the entire time; the next thing he knew, he felt a sudden, deep wrenching emptiness that was quickly filled with absolutely terrifying malice and dread. Another scream ripped itself from his vocals before he realized what had happened.

"_Slagger!_" The swear was partially a cry, screamed out as he glared with the deepest hate Bumblebee had ever felt for another creature in his life. "Go to the Pit..!" He hissed as the two sparks finally disengaged from each other; his spark physically reached a slight tendril to it's stolen segment, failing in its' final endeavor.

Megatron quietly closed both spark chambers, even taking the care to latch Bumblebee's shut, before leaning down to speak directly in to sensitive audio receptors. "You are _mine_ now." The dark glee was the first emotion other than cold indifference Bumblebee had heard since his capture. "You will go where I go, you will do as you are told, and you will refer to me as Master for the duration of your existence. Is that understood?"

The response was a deep hiss, Bumblebee's intake coming in deep and slow. "Why.. The slag.. Am I _here_? You could have a fragging _harem_ if you wanted to..!"

"I am _never _denied." Was the quick response. "What I want, I take."

With that, Megatron slid down and held the still bound Autobot possessively, ignoring the frustrated, infuriated growls his property emitted.

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_Well, you're just as I presumed_

_A whore in sheep's clothing_

_Fucking up all I do_

_And if so, here we stop_

_Then never again will you see this in your life_

_But if you could just write me out_

_To never less wonder, happy will I become_

_Be true that this is no option_

_So with sin I condemn you, demon play, demon out_

-- "Welcome Home", Coheed & Cambria

Author Notes: I STILL have no idea what my own brain plans for this. It's being very cryptic. It already changed the initial plot four times. o_O


	3. Chapter 3

Author notes: I have too much time on my hands. Really, I do.

It's now time for.. Dadadaaaa! .. Respond to reviews time! *crowd cheers*

Dreamstoryweaver: I think 'What the slag' would be 'WTS', not 'WHS'. :D And you never know, Bumblebee exaggerates a lot, sometimes. And you're pretty darn close; I guess my fangirlishness is predictable, eh?

The song for this chapter was originally Japanese. Hence, the 'rough translation'.

Warnings: Uh.. A sander is involved! Yay!

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_I think, with this corrupt rain falling_

_I shouldn't stop holding this umbrella_

_In this world, to be buried_

_Anything and everything is going to fall_

_Everyone is apathetic_

_My existence wants to scream_

_I'm hurt, I'm dirty_

_Unable to avoid it_

-- "Exit Running", Slayers TRY (rough translation)

**Streamline: Chapter Three**

'Infinite wisdom' was a term often tossed about when referring to great beings in the universe. Deities, Gods, the supernatural and everything in between was often thought of to be able to predict every possible course of every possible action. The Allspark, the center of all Cybertron civilization, was thought of to possess that same quality.

Although the Allspark wasn't the sole source of all Transformer life, it accounted for a great deal of it; at least a full two thirds, if not more. The Allspark was very much aware of that fact and worried; if anything should happen to it, the Transformer race could be in dire straits. After all, for every ten mechs created by either itself or by natural means, only one was a femme; less than ten percent of the total population was able to breed.

No one was entirely certain when the Allspark decided to change the way things worked. It wasn't until numerous creator-pairs and surrogates brought their sparklings to medics for routine scans did it become apparent what had occurred; no longer were femmes the only ones able to carry and bear; _every_ mech and femme born from that generation onwards had the means to do so.

The effects, at first, had simply been a curiosity as more and more sparklings bore characteristics of both genders; thinner frames and sleeker builds had become more common. The Autobot merchants that catered to upgrades and new paint jobs simply updated to accommodate the more eccentric youth.

The Decepticons, in their darker ways of life, ended up with an increasingly growing problem. Even the high ranking soldiers -- desperate to breed and bear offspring in their megalomania -- had resorted to taking unwilling, often very young breeding mares. Eventually, even Decepticon laws were passed against such things.

Autobots heard and saw how the Decepticons treated their own youth and sought to protect their own; when the first generation of the gender-ambiguous came to majority, most were sheltered in paranoia, creators and caretakers refusing to allow their wards to join the military. As a result, very few of the smaller, younger bots made it very far past Cybertron.

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This time, Bumblebee woke up before sunrise. His optics onlined slowly, recollection trickling in with all the speed of growing moss, taking several long cycles to remember exactly where he was and what was going on.

The swift conclusion was that the energon had, in fact, been drugged.

He glared at the recharging mech on top of him, but didn't make a sound; he had the feeling if Megatron woke up now, there may be a repeat of the past two solar cycles, and he wasn't quite eager for that to happen again.

The chains were still wrapped around his frame, pinning his arms to his side. The indignity and humiliation of it all made him both angry and terribly, terribly depressed; the fury was clung to in the refusal to break down. Megatron would leave him alone later, most likely; he could break down then.

A deep, quiet intake was breathed in; despite the large mech on top of him, he could still see out the expansive window. The sun would rise soon; the pre-dawn light was just making it's way over the edge of the world. Gently falling snow reflected the pinkish hue before it hit the swelling ocean waves below; it might actually have been beautiful if he wasn't where he was.

The snow and brief glimmers of fish served as a fine distraction for a couple of hours. Bumblebee stilled when he felt the body atop him stir and saw crimson optics light up. Silence maintained for few cycles, the small yellow mech simply glaring. A deep, strange glee grew within him and his vocalizer let out a small, static-filled choke when he realized what it was.

"Good. You know." Megatron seemed somewhere between amused and pleased. He then slid off the bound prisoner, glanced out the window, and walked away. After looking in to a large mirror for several seconds, the Decepticon left the room entirely.

Only when Bumblebee was certain he was alone and would be for a while did he choke and wheeze; he had been able to feel Megatron's emotions. He had been able to _feel_ him, and he had a feeling it worked both ways. The war for his very existence had been lost mere hours ago; his very spark was no longer his own.

The past three days finally caught up with him, hammering in to his central processor as if it were Unicron himself; Bumblebee let out a wail, curling up against the chains. For what felt like vorns, the small Autobot let all the pent up frustration and terror, screaming mindlessly in to the early morning hours. Eventually, the cries tapered off in to soft sobs.

Bumblebee wasn't able to gain control of himself again until he heard that soft, terribly familiar hiss. The sun was still bright in the sky, and he turned the best he could in the chains from sheer terror; Megatron was not supposed to return until the evening. The fear lessened ever so slightly, leaving just enough of himself to once again cling to the hate when he saw who it was.

"What do _you_ want?"

Icy Blitzwing stood at the open door, calm. "You, little Autobot, are coming wizh me." The Decepticon didn't bother untying the chains but did disconnect the snake chord connected to the wall itself. Random Blitzwing started to whistle a cheerful tune, gently pushing the Autobot until his yellow feet met the floor.

"Come!" Random Blitzwing started to sing something cheerful in a language Bumblebee didn't understand, pulling the chain as if it were a leash.

"Where are you taking me?" The yellow mech followed, knowing the odds of escape were between nil and zero with the chains still tied around him.

"You will see!" Random Blitzwing giggled. He led the Autobot through a few halls, taking seemingly random turns; they even went in a complete loop at one point, but it wasn't clear if this was intended to cause the Autobot to lose direction or if Blitzwing's random side was simply being random.

Eventually, the two mechs made it to a small, simple room. It looked like a storage room of some sort; boxes and barrels of paint were set about at random places. Someone -- probably Random Blitzwing -- had built a fort out of empty energon cubes in a corner, complete with little flags. A large, inclined bench that looked like something out of that 'Frankenstein' movie Sari had shown him once was in the center of it all, complete with straps.

Bumblebee flailed his legs when Icy Blitzwing picked him up and strapped him to the table; only when he was restrained were the chains slid off and disconnected from the collar, although the collar itself was left on. He said nothing, more than a little worried about the odd predicament. A short cycle later, a pleased-looking Lugnut stomped in, holding a small paint sander in one hand; the sight of it sent relief through the Autobot's systems.

When Bumblebee had been a young sparkling and had been allowed to chose his first paint job, he had gone a little insane from the freedom; the fickleness of childhood had caused him to change his mind over a dozen times before his caretakers had refused to pay for any further repaints. The sander had become a familiar comfort in his youth and he didn't fear it now.

"I'm getting repainted?" The yellow mech frowned deeply; it wouldn't hurt, but he didn't like the idea of practically being forced to become something else.

"Not all ze way." Icy Blitzwing shrugged, indifferent. "Lord Megatron likes the yellow."

All that did was make Bumblebee feel worse about the situation. He didn't struggle when a delighted Lugnut turned on the sander and slowly, carefully set it down over the small bot's chassis. He took as much care about it as the merchants did back on Cybertron, sanding away the Autobot symbol. Once the red paint was buffed off, leaving the shine of metal and gritty yellow specks underneath, the sander was turned off and set aside.

"..Slaggers." Bumblebee growled, looking down with some dismay at where his faction symbol had sat.

Lugnut seemed entirely too cheerful as he waddled over to several tubs of paint, dragging each one over and opening them up. Various shades of yellow sat in each one; the large purple and turquoise mech inspected every one before looking at Bumblebee and back again. After a few cycles, one of the drums was brought over, spilling drops of yellow paint as it was carried along.

All Bumblebee could do was stare, somehow faintly amused, as Lugnut actually took a paintbrush and brushed at the sanded area. This was certainly near the top of Bumblebee's 'strange things I never thought I would see' list.

"..Are you going to put a Decepticon mark on me?" Bumblebee frowned, unable to find the strength to put anger behind the words.

"No." Icy Blitzwing shrugged again. "Lord Megatron only vhus ordering to take off ze Autobot symbol."

"I don't know why." Lugnut kept on painting. "You'd think it would only be right for Lord Megatron's consort to bear the Decepticon mark..!"

"Hey!" Bumblebee stiffened, fury sharply returning. "_What_ did you just call me?!"

Lugnut blinked all five of his oddly set eyes, confused. "Lord Megatron chose you. It is an _honor _to be his mate! I offered Lord Megatron my own consort as well as myself, but he was magnanimous enough to refuse in respect..!"

The unexpected rant briefly took the captive Autobot by surprise. "H-Hey! I am _not_ his -- what the slag was that word?! _Mate?!_"

"Maybe there vill be wedding ceremony!" Random Blitzwing let out a delighted laugh, clapping his hands in a childish manner. The closed hands were held in the air as the insane Decepticon bounced in place. "Vhit big vhite dress and poofies and sparklings!"

Bumblebee concluded that every single Decepticon was thoroughly and absolutely out of their minds. "_What _are you people _talking _about!?"

"Sparklings!" Random Blitzwing clapped again, eyes practically sparkling. "Little bots in little booties!" The Decepticon started to dance, twirling across the room.

"Um.." Even Lugnut gave Blitzwing an odd stare. Then, he looked to the bound Bumblebee as if this was all completely normal. "Sometimes, it's a good idea just to let him.. Be himself. He's been a little crazy about sparklings and these funny little organics humans call 'babies' ever since our glorious Lord Megatron mentioned getting an heir.."

"Why in the name of Primus are you telling me this stuff?" Bumblebee boggled; then, something Lugnut said stood out. "..An heir?" A deep, sick feeling started to form.

"Of course." Lugnut tossed the paintbrush in a jug of water, stepping back. "Lord Megatron is to rule Cybertron. He needs an heir and a consort to bear it!"

That horrible feeling only grew from there; the connotations of what that meant swam in Bumblebee's processor, already frightened mind impounded further by his own imagination.

"Uh-oh." Icy Blitzwing blinked once before Hothead took control. "Let him up!"

"What?" Lugnut blinked, but grabbed for the single wide strap holding the yellow mechs' chassis and arms down.

Blitzwing barely got the dingy bucket in front of the Autobot as Bumblebee swiftly sat up, emptying his fuel tank in to the container in question. The two Decepticons allowed the Autobot to vomit for several cycles, even when there was nothing left to purge and only dry heaving occurred.

"..Was it something we said?" Lugnut blinked.

----------------------

As soon as the paint dried, Blitzwing hooked the chain back on the collar and half-dragged Bumblebee back to his prison. The small Autobot still felt terribly ill from what he had learned; he was starting to consider very drastic measures to escape. He wondered how everything had fallen in to the smelter so quickly; less than a week ago, his biggest worry had been if Sari had figured out how to perform that triple-button combo in Ninja Gladiator.

What was left of his spark clenched in longing; he missed Sari. He missed the other Autobots. He missed Prime's self-importance, Ratchet's grumbling, Prowl's antisocial behavior. He even missed Bulkhead accidentally breaking his belongings. He _missed_ them and wanted so terribly to go back.

He barely noticed when he sat down next to Megatron's bed, curling up against the wall as far away as the cord would let him. The rest of the Autobots on Earth, his friends, would be looking for him, but there was no guarantee that they would find him.

Stress sent minor glitches throughout his system; black and yellow limbs began to shake of their own accord. Frustrated, terrified and catching sight of his missing faction insignia, Bumblebee stood up abruptly and grabbed hold of the chair by the broken communication screen; he threw it with all his might at the wall. The sound of denting metal echoed in the silence, but the mech didn't check if it had been the wall or chair that was damaged.

For a while, he simply stood there, taking in deep, angry breaths. A breem came and went before he started to calm down, energy spent in the tantrum, and headed back to sit by the wall. Curling up again, he fell in to an uneasy recharge.

When Bumblebee next woke up, the sun had set and Megatron was already there.

----------------------

_Just as my breath stops materializing_

_In impatient hearts, the legs freeze_

_Falling down, getting up alone_

_Just a show of broken courage_

_When the heart is exposed._

_Don't disgrace honesty;_

_That's just strength's prologue_

-- "Exit Running", Slayers TRY (rough translation)


	4. Chapter 4

Author notes: For some reason, is stealing a portion of my line breaks and tabs. I don't know why this is happening.

WHY ARE YOU STEALING MY LINE BREAKS, ?! Whyyyy?! *weep*

... It's now time to respond to reviews!

P.A.W.07: There's a difference between 'want' and 'need'. It's the difference between love poems and stalking. :D ..As for the escape-while-knocked-up thing.. My brain has an idea for next chapter. *wild cackle*

Lil' Pup: ..SHOULD the rating go up? They're not using English swears (although I'm told 'slag' means something awful in British English)..

DreamStoryWeaver: Yes, you did. Good job. *gives a sticker*

The funniest thing? I've yet to see Animated in order from start to finish. I found it by accident writing a different fic an hit the 'random page' button on the Transformers wiki and watched eps on youtube.

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_Green finch and linnet bird,_

_Nightingale, blackbird_

_How is it you sing?_

_How can you jubilate,_

_Sitting in cages,_

_Never taking wing?_

_Outside, the sky waits_

_Beckoning, beckoning!_

_Just beyond the bars_

_How can you remain,_

_Staring at the rain,_

_Maddened by the stars?_

_How is you sing.. Anything?_

-- 'Green Finch and Linnet Bird', Sweeny Todd Soundtrack

Three full solar cycles came and went and Bumblebee had begun to notice a pattern. He hadn't been allowed to leave the bedroom that had become his prison the entire time, constantly chained to the wall by the collar he had grown used to. The large window and ticking clock had served as both a distraction and a schedule; Megatron always left the room at precisely six in the morning, local time -- just about sunrise, more or less --, and always returned exactly thirteen hours later.

It had all become monotonous and predictable, but that didn't make it any less terrible; the nights were filled with deep, horrible pains and the days with a lonely sorrow. Attempts to take the chains off to escape failed time and time again, no matter how creative he was.

On the sixth evening after the successful attack and bonding of his spark, a strange flitter poked at his central processor. It felt as if the fluttering of butterfly wings tapping at his consciousness, politely asking for him to wake up. He responded slowly; this didn't feel like the usual echoes from Megatron's spark.

Bumblebee didn't online his optics, afraid of the odd fluttering. Hesitantly, he sent a mental poke back.

_"Bumblebee?"_ A voice in his head; oh, so he was finally going insane.

_"My processor finally cracked.."_ The yellow mech sighed internally. _"Hi, crazy me!"_

_"Bumblebee! You're not crazy!"_ Wait. That 'voice' sounded familiar.

_"..Prowl?! How the.."_ Bumblebee boggled, but still didn't open his eyes; he doubted it would make much difference. _"How are you talking to me?"_

_"Processor over matter."_ Prowl's voice responded smoothly, tinged with surprise; it was as if he hadn't expected it to work.

Bumblebee didn't entirely know how to respond to that. _"..Oh. Okay."_

_"Bumblebee, I don't know how long I can keep this up. We moved to a new location, but everyone here is undamaged. Are you all right? Have the Decepticons been interrogating you?"_

The yellow mech paused in surprise; that was what the others thought had happened? _"I'm, uh.. No, they didn't interrogate me."_

_"We didn't receive a ransom call or anything of the sort, and when you said they knew where the warehouse was, we assumed.."_ Prowl was almost babbling, worry clear.

With a deep frown, Bumblebee quickly realized that the other Autobots had absolutely no idea what had been going on. They didn't know anything at all. _"No, ninja-bot, I.. I think they knew where the warehouse was before that. I think that's how these slaggers got me in the first place."_

_"Bumblebee, can.. Can you online your optics? You said there was a window. Maybe there's something there that will help us find you."_

He had to be careful; Megatron was still recharging on top of him. A slight, careful turn of his head was made, making certain he was facing the direction of the window with nothing blocking his vision, before he onlined his optics.

The sun hadn't risen yet, and it didn't seem it would for a while. The blizzard raging outside blocked a great deal of moonlight, but the large ship in the distance -- a cargo vessel, by the looks of it -- was still visible despite the white noise.

_"Bumblebee, can you zoom in on that?"_

He did so without so much as a twitch; he caught sight of some large, blocky writing on the side of the large ship; it wasn't English or any language he knew of.

_"Good.."_ Prowl seemed to let out an intake despite that the telepathic communication didn't require breath or voice. _"Just hang on, Bumblebee. Perhaps we can pinpoint what ship that is and where it was at this time."_ He paused for a moment. _"..Are you damaged?"_

_"I'll go ahead and say 'yes' to that."_ Bumblebee couldn't help his typical sarcasm from leaking in.

_"How? Can you give me a damage report? Ratchet can bring proper supplies when we find you."_

Bumblebee took in a deep intake; with a slight twitch of annoyance, he decided that it was better to show the ninja his predicament. He couldn't quite form the words to say it, anyway; it only took a small tilt of his head to look at the large gray mech on top of him. Both of their spark chambers were still open; the Decepticon Lord had fallen in to recharge with their sparks still entwined, and they had stayed that way. The glow from between both mechs' frames could easily be seen in the darkness.

There was a very long pause; just when the yellow mech thought the contact had ended did a horrified whisper echo within his processor.

_"Primus..!"_

_"I wasn't exaggerating about the interface thing."_ The annoyance couldn't be helped.

_"Primus.."_ Prowl sputtered again. _"Bumblebee.. Primus, did Megatron..?"_

_"Yeah."_ The anger left him, replaced with a deep sadness. _"The night after I got here. I tried to fight him off..!" _Very suddenly, he felt ready to weep, intake hitching; he looked to Megatron's face to make certain he hadn't woken up from the sudden sound. _"Prowl, I don't think I can get out of here on my own! Everything I try to do doesn't work!"_

_"Bumblebee.. We'll.. We'll get you out."_ The usual calm demeanor that Prowl exhibited wasn't there, now surpassed by horror. _"We'll find that boat. I'll try to contact you again, but I swear to Primus that we'll find you..!"_ His voice was growing more distant.

_"Prowl..?"_

Silence; the telepathy had ended.

With a deep, quiet intake, Bumblebee looked to the clock. It wasn't even four in the morning, yet; it would still be a couple of hours before the creature that called him his master would wake up again. Offlining his optics again, the bound Autobot attempted to recharge once more, ignoring the twitches from his entwined spark.

------------------------

As promised, Prowl had managed to contact him the next solar cycle. Three more early morning liaisons came and went with very little hope; the text on the ship had been a human language called 'Chinese', but it appeared to be from a small, independent company. Difficult to track, or so Prowl had said; several more days, at the least. The ninja had assured him repeatedly that they were close, however, and that they would rescue him soon. Bumblebee had the impression he was only saying it without any real truth behind it.

Ironically, the voice inside his head served as an anchor to the real world; more than once, Bumblebee had felt as if insanity was lingering just on the very edge of his new reality. Anything, he mused, could push him clean over; yet, he couldn't find it within himself to care.

The usual subtle darkness emitting from the part of Megatron's spark inside his own suddenly flared with a deep, furious anger. Bumblebee was shaken from his depressed musing, curling up around his spark chamber with a gasp; he had never felt anything quite like that before.

A short couple of breems later and Megatron loudly stomped in, almost throwing the automatic door open. It was the late afternoon; far earlier than the Decepticon usually arrived. The yellow Autobot looked up in terror, knowing this couldn't possibly be good. Megatron looked at him as if he had forgotten he was there, optics narrowed; then, he rushed at the small mech, fists clenched and growling.

"Oh slag..!" Bumblebee yelped; he backpedalled briefly, realized he had no where to go, and then curled up on himself in self defense.

Thankfully, the Decepticon Lord had forgotten about his blade and cannon in his fury; his fists came down hard enough to severely dent a yellow back, evicting loud cries of pain in the process. The assault lasted for quite some time, merciless; by the time the fury tapered off to a manageable level, the Autobot's entire backside was practically unrecognizable.

Megatron stood and took a deep intake, returning to his usual self. Without so much as a word, he walked away, leaving the room.

Bumblebee took in deep, terrified intakes; he had absolutely no idea what had just happened. One of his vehicle-mode doors had agonizingly curled in on itself from the blows, and he hissed in pain as he tried to sit up. Damage reports flittered across his vision; by some miracle, nothing vital had been damaged, but if his backside remained the way it was, it would hurt like the Pit when the usual nightly activities came around.

The touch on his shoulder caught him by surprise; the Autobot screamed and jumped back, hitting his injured back against the wall. That only evicted another pain-filled yell.

"Hey! Hey, calm down..!" Lugnut leaned over him. "It's okay!"

Bumblebee just stared, optics wide in spark-numbing terror; he couldn't even try to think about what the bizarre Decepticon was doing there.

"Lord Megatron sent me to fix your back." The large mech actually seemed cheerful. "Let me take a look at it..!"

"You stay away from me!" Bumblebee hissed, edging off of the wall and away; the chain only allowed him to move so far. "Stay back!"

Surprisingly, Lugnut did as told. He only stood there, blinking in what may have been confusion; Bumblebee really couldn't tell what emotion the Decepticon was showing with his skull constructed the way it was. "But.. Mighty Lord Megatron instructed me to repair you!"

"..What?" The yellow mech stared, sputtering. "What the slag are you talking about?!"

"Lord Megatron was upset." It sounded as if Lugnut was attempting to defend the beating. "It happens, sometimes. Let me take a look at your back." A small, portable repair kit was held in one giant claw.

"_You're_ a medic?!" Bumblebee boggled, stunned. He gave the Decepticon a wary look, but decided he didn't have much of a choice in the matter; there was simply nowhere to go. He forced himself to edge a little closer and turn his back to the enemy.

"Woah." Lugnut lumbered over, too close for the yellow bots' comfort. "Lord Megatron must really have been angry about Shockwave.."

It took a moment to understand what that meant; the Elite Guard must have finally spread word of who the Autobot traitor was. A small, shaky smile crossed his face; it was the first real good news he had heard in over a week. A sudden pain from his injured back caused him to hiss.

"Sorry." Why Lugnut apologized for causing him pain, Bumblebee had no idea. "These are pretty bad dents." Still, it was obvious the Decepticon was taking unusual care with the injuries, slowly and carefully bending metal and glass. The shattered window from the ravaged doors was cleaned out, shrapnel swept up.

"Why are you helping me?" Bumblebee frowned, baffled.

Lugnut paused a moment. "..Lord Megatron commanded I repair you."

The answer was simple and made perfect sense, so the captive Autobot didn't inquire further. He winced again, but he had to admit that as far as repairs went, Lugnut could have been doing a far worse job.

"I would be a little careful on the trip. Lord Megatron would be displeased if his consort was damaged in takeoff.."

"..Trip?" Bumblebee stiffened.

Lugnut blinked once. "Lord Megatron didn't tell you? Shockwave is taking over operations here. Lord Megatron is going to the flagship Nemesis and, of course, you would go with our glorious master."

A deep, cold feeling went through Bumblebee's systems; the situation had just gotten all the worse. His intake hitched, but he forced any cry that may have come out with a gulp. "When..?"

"Two solar cycles." Lugnut let out a saddened sigh. "Lord Megatron ordered I remain here. I would have so wanted to go with him.."

Bumblebee looked to the floor with wide optics; staying on Earth was the only chance he had of ever being rescued. If he was taken off this planet, there would be absolutely no way for the Autobots to find him, and he seriously doubted a platoon of soldiers would raid the Decepticon flagship just to save his aft.

With dread filling him, the yellow mech simply looked at the floor, ignoring the further chatter Lugnut provided.

------------------------

By the time Prowl's consciousness tapped at his own, Bumblebee was a wreck. Even deep in his mind, he was weeping, crying in nothing less than deep despair.

_"Bumblebee!" _The Autobot ninja had to 'yell' to get his friends' attention.

_"Prowl..!"_ If Bumblebee possessed an image of himself to portray, he would have been curled up on himself. Distress was obvious as he called out. _"We're running out of time!"_

_"What? What happened?! Are your vitals damaged..!?"_

_"We're leaving..! Megatron is going to the Decepticon flagship.. I have two solar cycles left, tops!"_

_"The flagship..!"_ The shock in Prowl's internal voice was clear.

_"Lugnut said that Shockwave is taking over."_ In the physical world, Bumblebee took in a deep intake. _"Prowl, if you can't get here in two solar cycles, just make sure Sari stays safe.. Tell her I'm offline."_

_"Bumblebee!"_ Prowl's voice was so much like how it had been before, stern and strong, that it practically grabbed at the yellow mech's very core. _"Bumblebee, you have to stay calm. We've narrowed it down your location to a particular section of a country called 'Russia'. We could find you within the next mega-cycle. Try to stay calm."_

_"Calm!? Are you kidding --"_ Bumblebee sputtered in shock; he let out a soft cry of pain before he could argue further.

_"Bumblebee?!"_

_"For the love of..! The slagger's awake again!" _There was a short pause before terror filled him. _"I don't know how long I can take this, ninja-bot.."_

_"Primus, is he..?"_

_"Again. Yeah."_ Another gasp of pain. _"The slagger's been up all night, fragged about Shockwave getting found out."_

_"I'll stay with you for as long as I can, all right..?"_ The fluttering of Prowl's consciousness increased to a gentle, comforting hold.

_"Thanks.. Thanks. I could --"_ A hiss. _"..It helps."_

For as long as Prowl managed to maintain contact, he simply engaged his pained friend with simple conversation, distracting him; eventually, he couldn't maintain the long distance spell any longer. By then, he had done all he could do.

_"Thank you, ninja-bot. Just.. Thanks."_

------------------------

_My cage has many rooms_

_Damask and dark;_

_Nothing there sings_

_Not even my lark._

_Larks never will, you know,_

_When they're captive.._

_Teach me to be more adaptive.._

_Oh, green finch and linnet bird,_

_Nightingale, blackbird,_

_Teach me how to sing.._

_If I cannot fly, let me sing_

-- "Green Finch and Linnet Bird", Sweeny Todd Soundtrack

Author notes: ..Oh, stop that. They're _friends_. XD


	5. Chapter 5

Author notes: I'm gonna be gone on a trip for a week, so nothing from me on this until about next Friday or so.

Warnings: I'm horrible at battle scenes. I just am. This chapter is bound to just be bad. I'm so sorry.

Respond to reviews time!

Black Dragon Queen: ..Did you just respond to each chapter individually with long, detailed reactions? ..I'm impressed. And a little scared. XD Also, on that 'consort' comment on chapter three: No, no. Lugnut was saying Megatron refused his consort and himself out of 'respect' for his underling, but I get the impression Megs just doesn't want to do it with Lugnut or his consort. Who, according to the Transformers wikia.. Is Strika. Which leads me to conclude that fems have GOT to be rare for STRIKA to get it on. o_O

Lil' pup: ...More? There's MORE that can possibly be done, here? ..What do you know and why aren't you telling me about it? *peers suspiciously*

DreamStoryWeaver: On that 'bound' comment, well.. You'll have to wait an see, eh? ;)

... WHY ARE YOU MESSING UP MY FORMAT, FFNET!? Whyyyy?!

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_This lonely existence paves the way_

_For the heart of hearts must beat: Be brave_

_While this quiet lightning storm_

_Wrecks the harvest gold we try to sow_

_And so it begins;_

_The way the blood still dances _

_Beneath the skin_

_As the messenger from Hell says,_

_"We're bound to win!"_

_As the days they come, but the years they go_

_So, take care of your freedom_

_They'll never know_

-- "The Lightning Storm", Flogging Molly

**Streamline: Chapter Five**

-------------------------------

It was no secret that Sentinel Prime had little patience for Jetstorm and Jetfire. It usually came down to either sending them on useless patrols in areas they usually had no jurisdiction in or actually dealing with them. More than not, the first route was chosen; all the better, as far as the twin mechs were concerned. Neither would ever admit it, but they were both somewhat frightened of Sentinel Prime.

At the moment, Jetfire and Jetstorm twirled and danced nearly in unison, transforming as they pleased through the snowy blizzard rampaging through the air. It never snowed on Cybertron and, despite the fierce winds, the falling white dust was seen as a wonder and a miracle. They had spent the better portion of the sun-lit hours building shapes out of the snow and finding that Sentinel Prime absolutely hated being pelted with it.

It was dark, now; despite this, both boys were still dancing within the white miasma, laughing in their play. Hours passed by, the moon rising high in the sky, before their commlink sprang to life.

_"Jazz to Jetstorm and Jetfire. We're leavin' to O.P.'s new place pretty early tomorrow. You two need to get some recharge in or S.P. is going to get huffy."_

"But we are having fun time!" Jetfire laughed, transforming out of vehicle mode mid-air. "We can be getting recharge on flight!"

"Brother?" Jetstorm looked off to the distance. "Is there supposed to being lights?"

_"Lights?"_ Jazz's confused voice came from the open comm.

"There is.. Being lights." Jetfire peered in the direction his brother was staring in. "Not being from stars or moon.."

_"Man, It's probably just an organic outpost. Don't engage."_

The blizzard began to slow; the swirling mass of snow and hail lessened just enough for the lights to become clearer and their source visible. The twin mechs stopped mid-air, hovering, and exchanged a look.

"Uhm.." Jetfire began.

"..Is human place supposed to be in having of Decepticon symbol?" Jetstorm finished.

_"Say again?"_

"We will be getting little bit closer!" Jetfire grinned; his brother did as well. Both hovered slowly, moving closer to the glaring symbol painted on the side of the building. The entire construct appeared to be embedded in to a large mountain of ice; windows would have blended in to the reflection of frozen water if they didn't allow those of proper height to peer in.

Jetfire and Jetstorm stopped a distance away, unwilling to be spotted by any Decepticons, yet were still close enough to see through a particularly large pane of glass. Despite the darkness and still falling snow, the small blinking lights on the building itself and the moonlight allowed enough of a view. They exchanged a look at what they saw, backing up slightly.

"..That is definitely being Megatron." Jetfire rubbed his optics. "And Megatron is being in interfacings with some person. I am not in ever wanting to be seeing again."

_"..That was more information than I needed to know, man."_ Jazz's shuddering was actually audible. _"Back up, you two. We'll send this info to Cybertron and wait for --"_

"Brother!" Jetstorm suddenly gasped. "Brother, look!"

"I am not in wanting --" Jetfire whimpered, still covering his optics.

"Look, brother!" Jetstorm's insistence was unusual; his twin did as told, hesitantly looking back to the large window.

The stunned silence stretched for quite a few cycles; both twins could only hover there, jaws slightly hung.

_"Jetfire? Jetstorm? Status? Are you under attack?"_

"Uhm.." Jetfire whimpered. "..Megatron is being in interfacings with Autobot, and Autobot is not looking in happiness about it."

_"Say again!?"_ Jazz sputtered. _"Are you saying there's an Autobot prisoner in there?!"_

"I.. I am thinking it is being little yellow 'bot from Optimus Prime's persons." Jetstorm wobbled a little, shocked.

_"Are you glitchin' me?! You're both on the up-and-up!?"_

"We are being in positive, Jazz Sir." Jetfire gulped. "..What are we in doing?"

For a brief moment, there was silence. _"S.P. and I are gonna get to your position, but hold back. Wait for us to get there. Got it?"_ A pause. _"..How did you GET that far? It'll take us until morning.. Slag, both of you stay back, don't do anything I wouldn't do, got it?!"_

Both twins glanced to each other, but held back and took shelter by a nearby glacier.

-------------------------------

Morning couldn't come soon enough. Megatron had refused to recharge the entire night and hadn't allowed his Autobot prisoner to do so, either; by the time dawn came about, Bumblebee was in a great deal of pain, furious and exhausted.

His backside still ached terribly from the earlier beating and, despite Lugnut's repairs, had only been aggravated in the furious nighttime assault. The yellow mech didn't even attempt to move until the Decepticon Lord was off the metal bed entirely; only then did he force himself to sit up, close his spark chamber, and slide to the floor. He wouldn't recharge on the bed if he could help it.

The coil leash extended as far as it could go and Bumblebee leaned against the wall, curling up. Several cycles passed before he realized he had never heard the hiss of the door closing. He looked up slowly, spotting the gray Decepticon at the open door, talking in a low voice to someone out of his view.

This was unusual, but not unexpected; Shockwave had been set to arrive at some point, or so Lugnut had said. Bumblebee only sighed to himself and curled up again.

"You can keep him here, for now." Megatron's voice pulled him back to awareness; the yellow mech looked up to see his captor walking back inside, still speaking to whoever it was on the other side of the door. A short few seconds later and Shockwave himself walked in.

Bumblebee glared at the cyclopian Decepticon with the same deep hate he harbored for Megatron himself, only to stop in surprise when he noticed there was a third mech in the room. Barely taller than himself, a light blue bot with what may have seemed an odd spike on his head if the yellow mech didn't recognize him was dragged in. The blue mech sported a strikingly similar leash and collar; Shockwave pulled on the other end.

Bumblebee's jaw dropped in surprise as the second snake chain was hooked to the same base as his own; the blue bot sat down less than a foot away, curling up. The yellow Autobot looked on warily as Megatron and Shockwave left the room without another word; the door hissed shut.

Then, he looked to the quiet, subdued and slightly shaky blue mech. ".._Blurr?!_"

The blue bot looked up slowly -- too slow, if what Bumblebee remembered about him was correct -- and nodded slightly. "Yeah, it'sme." His speech was still rushed; a good sign. "So.. Howdid_you_getinthismess..?"

Bumblebee smirked sadly. "Don't remember." The smile quickly vanished. "How did you..?"

Blurr shifted in place. "Iranhalfwayacrosstheuniverse.." The speedy mech took in a deep, shuddering intake. "..TowarnLongarmPrimehowtofindthetraitor." He paused a moment. Then, the blue mech buried his head in his knees and began to sob. "ButLongarmPrimewasShockwave!"

"Slag.." Bumblebee gulped. "Did the slagger make you.. Bond to him, too?"

The blue mech looked up in slight surprise, shudders wracking his frame. Cerulean optics widened in understanding, nodding slowly. "Youtoo..?!"

Bumblebee winced slightly. "Megatron."

Blurr shuddered, but appeared to find some comfort in no longer being alone. "Ohslag.. I'msosorry.."

"My friends are coming." Bumblebee frowned sadly. "Prowl said they've almost figured out where this place is. I'll be long gone by then, probably, but they'll get you out of here."

Blurr looked to his fellow captive in shock. "Primus! Megatronsitakingyouup..?!"

There was no answer; Bumblebee only looked to the floor, nodding slowly.

For a long while after that, silence reigned. Despite that both mechs had been chatty, conversational bots in the past, the situation had robbed them both of the energy or will to attempt any of it now. A full seven breems passed before Blurr let out a gasp.

"Whatarethose?!" The blue mech stared out the window.

Bumblebee looked up in alarm, but quickly relaxed. "Oh. Sometimes, Starscream or his clones fly past."

"Clones?" Blurr boggled for a moment, but peered. "..They'regettingreeeealclose.."

The yellow Autobot noticed it, as well; he stood slowly. "Wait.. Those don't look like.." His optics widened. "No way."

Hesitantly, Blurr stood up as well. "Whataretheydoing?"

Two strikingly familiar jets flew towards the large window at speeds entirely too fast for either prisoners' comfort. Just when it seemed they would crash right in, wind and fire suddenly rent the air, aimed directly at the window.

"Ohslag, getdown!" Blurr grabbed at Bumblebee and zipped under Megatron's bed; there was barely enough room to lie flat underneath. Klaxons blared as the two jets transformed, automatic systems warning of intruders.

"There is not being time for hidings!" Jetstorm called out. "Come, quickly!"

"Holy slag..!" Bumblebee dove out, momentarily stunned. Then, he grabbed at the chain tethering him to the wall, running towards the twin Elite Guards. "Can you get these off?!"

Jetfire blasted a stream of fire at the wall; the hooks holding both chains blew apart, freeing the two mechs.

"..That works." Bumblebee boggled.

"Come! Quickly!" Jetstorm yelled again; he and his twin transformed. "Get on, get on!"

Jetstorm didn't have to say that again; Bumblebee jumped on and grabbed hold of Jetstorm as Blurr did the same with Jetfire. As soon as they clung on, the Cybertronian jets took off as fast as they could go.

They didn't get far before they were pursued; Blitzwing led the charge, cackling maniacally. "Come back, little Autobots! There'll be tea time and weddings!"

"Please be for hanging on!" Jetfire quickly turned, thrusters firing in reverse; he flew backwards, firing on Blitzwing and the slowly growing crowd of pursuing Decepticons while still flying at speeds that he likely should not have been going while in reverse.

"Ohslagohslagohslag..!" Blurr wailed, arms and legs wrapped around Jetfire tightly. "We'reallgonnadie!"

"Sentinel Prime sir!" Jetstorm called in to his comm, following his brothers' lead and performing the same maneuver. "We are needing of backup!"

"_Hang on!"_ Jazz called back. _"We'll be there in just a cycle!"_

"We don't _have _a cycle!" Bumblebee shrieked, panicked. "We're going to be _slagged _in a cycle!"

A loud explosion echoed in the air; snow and ice flew about as a glacier by the Decepticons blew apart. For a moment, the frozen shrapnel blocked the pursuit; Bumblebee dared to glance behind him, still clinging for dear life. A wide grin crossed his face; he had never been so glad to see an Elite Guard ship in his life.

_"Move, move, move!"_ Jazz called over the comm.

The twin jets didn't take the time to turn around; they sped their thrusters with as much power as they had, almost crashing in to the open hanger of the Elite Guard craft. The ship in question continued to rain powerful bolts on the Decepticons even as it began to fly off, hanger closing with a resounding 'thud'.

Bumblebee and Blurr let go of the two jets, both shaking profusely, as the twins transformed and ran to their stations. "Sentinel Prime sir!" Both twins called at once.

"Pull back!" Sentinel Prime sat by the weapons control. "Jazz, get this hunk of junk out of here!"

The large vessel moved with such force, anyone who wasn't strapped in were thrown aside. Both of the rescued Autobots yelped as they fell over, Bumblebee rubbing his back. Yet, neither complained; they glanced to each other and then to the closed hanger door. Even when the ship stopped moving and nothing happened, they didn't move.

For a long moment, there was silence; every mech in the room waited for something, anything to happen. It was a solid half breem before anyone dared to speak.

"..I am thinking.." Jetstorm slowly began to say, breaking the silence. "..We are not being in followings."

"Thank Primus for that!" Jazz sputtered a moment, rushing to the rescued pair. "You two damaged?! Come on, let's get you two to a medic scan..!"

Neither Bumblebee nor Blurr protested as Jazz pushed them along.

-------------------------------

Once both stunned mechs had realized that they had been rescued, a deep shock had set in. Perhaps it was for all the best, as damage checkups were, more often than not, uncomfortable; neither made a sound even when their collars were broken apart and taken off.

"Woah, man, what happened to your back?" Jazz boggled at the visible damage. "Whoever tried to patch you up did a funky job of it."

"Yeah, if I ever see Lugnut again, I'll let him know." Bumblebee responded with some awe, rubbing his throat; he hadn't had the collar off in so long, he had forgotten what it was like not to have it on.

"Hey.. Uhm.." Jazz's voice dropped to a near whisper, looking to both subdued mechs; Bumblebee seemed calm enough, but Blurr had curled up on a chair. "I'm gonna have to scan both of your sparks.."

"What?!" Immediately, panic spread along Blurr's face. "Whydoyouneedtolookatoursparks?!"

Bumblebee frowned, looking to the floor. "You already know, huh?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we know." Jazz frowned, concern clear and still speaking low. "The scan's quick. I swear it doesn't hurt one bit."

"Yeah, yeah.." Bumblebee grumbled; his fingers twitched a moment, hesitant, before opening his spark chamber. A shudder went through his systems as he did so; before he even had the last latch open, stress-glitches caused his entire frame to shake.

The scan was, indeed, quick; it wasn't even intrusive. A small pen-like device was simply waved over the spark, scanning in every inch of the entire spark chamber. It only lasted a few cycles and then Bumblebee was allowed to close himself back up. The same scan was performed on a less willing Blurr; by the end of his scan, the blue mech was whimpering slightly.

"It'll be two breems before the readout's done." Jazz looked over the two small mechs; they were barely more than sparklings in his eyes. "Then we'll know if there's anything funky, solid?"

"..Idon'tknowwhatanyofthatmeans." Blurr admitted in a small whisper. "What's'funky'and'solid'mean?"

"We can wait a few cycles, Jazz." Bumblebee nodded slightly. "We're okay."

Jazz gave the pair a concerned glance; then, he turned and left the room, holding the portable scanner in his hands. The equipment to actually look over what was in the device was down the hall. He didn't know how long the two bots had been in captivity, but there was certainly a chance that either one could be carrying.

When the screens finally displayed the information logged within the scanner, the Elite Guard winced. "Oh, slag.."

-------------------------------

_I sit on the wing for a blackbird's song_

_To tell me where and when_

_This all went wrong_

_There's no resolution without remorse_

_With ignorance of bliss defend_

_'Let's stay the course'_

_Take what you give_

_Until there's nothing left but forever live_

_And night descends on shadows_

_Without their kill_

_As the days they come, but the years they go_

_So take care of your freedom_

_They'll never know_

-- "The Lightning Storm", Flogging Molly

Author notes: Jazz is difficult to write. I need an English-to-Jazz translator. Seriously.

And stop looking at me like that. I'm going to be gone for a week, you should have expected a cliffhanger. XD


	6. Chapter 6

Author notes: I was trying to do waaay too many things at once in this chapter. My brain demanded a Blurr flashback, all sorts of drama, and my brain couldn't focus while on my trip. Oops. Sorry about how bad this chapter is bound to be.

This thing is getting waaay more complicated than I intended.

By the way, whoever it was at Otakon 2009 who has the plushie Blurr cube.. That was awesome. I was the crazy girl in the street going: "OH MY GOD IT'S THE BLURR CUBE". XD

.. RESPOND TO REVIEW TIME! :D

Little Miss Molly: You have no idea how much your review helped. I was having some trouble delving in to Blurr's psyche; I hadn't considered some of the finer points you pointed out, and it helped the flashback flow so much smoother. :D

Black Dragon Queen: I'm so bad at the JetTwins lingo. I based it on, and this is probably going to sound horrible, but the accents Draenei have in World of Warcraft. I'm on an RP server, and I just sort of.. Borrowed the speaking style my character there has. I'm so sorry. XD;

Lil' Pup: .. MORE detail? .... I'll see what I can do.

----------------------------

_Don't it feel like the wind is always howlin'?_

_Don't it seem like there's never any light?_

_Once a day, don't you wanna throw the towel in?_

_It's easier than putting up a fight!_

_No one's there when your dreams at night get creepy_

_No one cares if you grow or if you shrink_

_No one dries when your eyes get wet and weepy_

_From the crying you think this place would sink!_

-- 'It's The Hard Knock Life', Annie (Musical)

**Streamline: Chapter Six**

----------------------------

_He should have been offline._

_He had __**thought **__he had gone offline; the walls had crushed him. That, he recalled distinctly; the deep, incredible pain of having your frame crushed wasn't something he experienced often. When he had returned to the land of online an unknown amount of time later -- his internal systems, glitching as they were, proclaimed an impossible date --, he had been fully repaired and briefly dared to believe it had all been a bizarre dream; perhaps a sensory echo caused by stress._

_A slow realization came to pass that he could not move. Dim lighting in the cramped space -- why he was behind a stack of boxes was a momentary curiosity -- revealed his legs wrapped from ankle to thigh in numerous stasis cuffs. One pair atop the other, as if whoever had put them on had been paranoid about two sets breaking off at the same time, and had slapped on every set they had. A final set bound his wrists behind his back._

_It wasn't natural not to move; his entire existence had been around speed, around the ability to run and leap and dash faster than most mechs could ever dare to dream. Being unable to do so was an outright sin. So, he twisted and flailed, trying to get free; he only succeeded in knocking over a box._

_The loud thud was a cacophony in the silence; several nano-kliks later passed before very loud footsteps sounded off. The bound figure dared to look up, optics wide and frightened._

_A single, large crimson optic peered down. The slitted sensory pupil and complete lack of facial equipment gave off a disturbing, terrifying air. "You're awake. Good."_

_The bound, blue mech openly gaped. "Ohslag." _

_Quite suddenly, he remembered everything. "WhatamIdoingherewhatdoyouwantwithme?" Decepticons, after all, never took prisoners. Hostages, at times, but he was not a mech of any particular importance and knew no information that the cyclopian Decepticon didn't already know._

_Longarm Prime had been his superior officer, after all._

_"Tell me, something, Field Agent Blurr.." The Decepticon spy slowly knelt down without ever looking away from his prisoners' face. "..Are you of __**that**__ generation?"_

_It wasn't often that the swift mech froze; he did now. It wasn't widely known that the streamlined mech had been created within cycles of the Allspark's decision to change reality; despite needing a small form to better enhance his speed, he had gone through a great deal of effort to hide the fact that he had been sparked three and a half nano-kliks too late._

_"..NononoI'mnotsorryyougotthewrongmechbecauseI'mwaaaytooold." Blurr's optics twitched nervously._

_Longarm Prime -- Shockwave -- tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. He then reached forward sharply, thick claws grabbing for the thin blue chassis._

_"OhslagwhatareyoudoingIallreadysaidI'mnot!" The protests did absolutely nothing; Blurr's shrill yells faded in to whimpers when his spark chamber was roughly pulled open. A couple of the latches holding the metal together snapped and broke apart in the process; the blue mech offlined his optics, shuddering them tight, certain something dreadfully terrible was about to happen._

_"Perhaps the sixth time will be the charm.." Shockwave murmured, terrifying the bound mech._

_Yet, nothing happened for a full fifteen nano-kliks. Blurr onlined an optic hesitantly, peeking out; Shockwave was no longer there. Although his spark chamber was wide open, nothing had happened. In fact, the Decepticon he had once believed to be his superior officer -- had trusted him with his very life and looked up to, in fact -- had walked away and now stood by a small communication console._

_Only now did Blurr realize he was in a small craft of some sort; the specks of shining stars were easily visible outside a small window. His optics onlined and widened fully, stunned; they could be anywhere in space, by now. This wasn't good at all._

_"My lord Megatron.." Shockwave's voice caught his attention; the blue mech looked away from the window in alarm, listening closely. "I regret to contact you so soon after the unfortunate news of my incompetence.."_

_"What __**is**__ it, Shockwave?" Blurr couldn't see the screen -- Shockwave's body blocked it --, but Megatron did not sound the least bit happy._

_"Yes, well, my lord.." Shockwave sputtered, nervous. "I have heard you've been searching for a concubine to bear you an heir for quite some time.." The Decepticon stepped aside to show off the bound mech._

_Blurr's jaw dropped at the connotations; the struggles were renewed in a frenzied panic, twisting and struggling in the numerous cuffs._

_Megatron blinked once on the screen; then, he smirked. "As amusing as this is, Shockwave, I've already found a suitable bearer for my heir."_

_Shockwave had clearly not expected this; his single optic blinked once, visibly stunned despite lack of expression, but he quickly bowed to the screen. "O-Of course, my lord. What do you wish me to do with the captured Autobot?"_

_The Decepticon lord shrugged slightly, indifferent. "I don't care. Do whatever you wish with him. Take him for yourself, if you want. Megatron out."_

_As the screen shut off; Shockwave simply stood there for several long seconds, staring at the blank screen. He didn't appear to know what to do, recovering slowly from his failed attempt to gain the Decepticon lord's favor. _

_After some time, Shockwave slowly turned to stare at the bound, frightened mech._

----------------------------

The wait for Jazz to return had been longer than anticipated; a full ten minutes came and went with absolutely nothing but silence in the sizable medical bay. The ship had been designed for a larger crew and the emptiness of such a large place stifled the two quiet bots. One sat on the edge of a gurney, legs waving in the air and far off the floor; the other was curled up on a chair, hugging his knees to his chest.

Neither said anything for the entire ten minutes. The silence eventually became too much to bear for the blue mech on the chair; he buried his face in his arms, letting out quick, hurried sobs interrupted with random intake hiccups.

"Hey.." The yellow mech on the gurney looked towards the other and frowned, sympathy and empathy clear in his optics. "We don't know yet if there's anything.."

"Itdoesn'tmatterandyouknowit..!" Blurr didn't look up. "Icanfeelhimand_you_canfeel_him_andthey'llfindusandit'sall_over_!"

Bumblebee frowned deeply, staring at his distressed ally; briefly, he wondered when he had begun to consider Blurr a friend. He barely knew him, really. "We.. We don't know, yet. Maybe there's a way to.. To reverse it or something..!"

"Reverse_sparkbonding_?! Areyouserious?!" Blurr looked up briefly, incredulous, but quickly buried his face again.

"I'm trying to be positive, here." Bumblebee couldn't help the slight annoyance that crept in to his tone. "If there's some chance, _any_ chance, frag it all, I'll take it."

Blurr moaned. "Thisshouldn'thavehappened. Thisshouldn'thavehappenedat_all_!"

"Don't I know it, brother." A deep voice interrupted the two mechs; two sets of bright blue optics looked to the door, quieting at the sight of Jazz. "I'm going to need another scan. The equipment's.. Glitching, or something. It's still going to take some time. Maybe you should call O.P., let your buds know you're here.."

Bumblebee frowned a little, suspicious at the convenient breakdown of machinery, but nodded. "Sure.." He was slightly impressed with himself to find he shook much less than before as he opened his spark chamber.

----------------------------

Blurr had refused to leave the medical bay -- had refused to leave that chair he had curled up in, in fact --, and Bumblebee hadn't felt the need to prod him up. So, he walked to a spare communications console on his own, shown the way by a quiet and somber set of twins.

It had taken the yellow Autobot a decent cycle to remember that his friends had moved out of the warehouse; he no longer had a direct number to call them on. Unsure how else to contact his friends, he dialed a familiar cellphone number instead.

The phone rang three times. Then, a high-pitched, youthful voice answered. "_Hello?_"

"Sari?" Bumblebee took in a deep intake; he had missed her voice.

"_Bumblebee?! Oh my god, where are you?! The others said you were kidnapped and you've been gone for two weeks and where are you?!_"

A small smirk crossed the yellow mech's face. "I missed you, too, Sari. Are the others with you?"

_"They went to Russia yesterday! They said they were going to get __**you**__!"_

This had been expected; Prowl had told him as much. "Do you have a number I can call them on? I don't have my comm.."

_"Uh, sure, hold on. Let me get it out of my phone's memory.."_

When Sari relayed the string of digits, Bumblebee had found it difficult to hang up; he cared for the small human deeply and had missed her terribly. In the short span of time he had been on Earth, the young organic had somehow managed to get herself in to the position of being the yellow Autobot's best friend.

In the end, Sari had to hang up the line first. Then, the new number was dialed in quickly. This time, the communication line had a camera on the other end; static lined the edges of the screen, the only outward sign that it was a portable communicator.

"_Hel -- Bumblebee!"_

"Hi, Optimus." Bumblebee smiled slightly, touched by the concern he could see across the static-lined screen. "Listen, the Elite Guard sort of saved my aft. I'm not in that building anymore, don't run in there for nothing!"

_"We figured as much when we saw the shattered window."_

He had forgotten about that. "Is everyone all right?"

On the other end of the line, Optimus Prime's optics widened in incredulity. _"You're asking us that?! Everyone here is undamaged."_ The Autobot commander paused for a moment. _"Do you want us to bring you home?"_

Bumblebee visibly winced; with his spark bound, he was practically a walking homing beacon. "I can't.. The slaggers probably don't know where you guys are staying, now.."

_"We'll come to you, then. Where are you?"_

"..That's actually a really good question. Hey, uh.." Bumblebee turned to look at the twin jets; both had been unusually quiet the entire time. "Where are we, and don't tell me the Elite Guard ship."

----------------------------

"Who gave clearance for this? I sure as slag didn't give permission for this, and since I'm in charge here, I'd really like to know who the slag gave them permission to come here!" A loud, vividly angry voice rang through the hanger of the Elite Guard craft, echoing off the walls.

"Ah.. Sentinel Prime Sir.." Jetstorm raised his hands in a placating manner. "Brother and I were thinking it would be good idea.."

"Good idea for what?!" Sentinel Prime glared at the two young twins. "I'm in command, here! You have to run these things through me before telling people they can come on this ship!"

"But.. It.." Jetfire sputtered. "It is being Autobot friends and Optimus Prime and his persons.."

"They were in wanting to see if friend is being okay!" Jetstorm had the sense to back up a step.

"Well, they can pick the kid up and take him to their own base for all I care! He's not our responsibility!" Sentinel Prime growled.

"Well, I'm sorry to be an inconvenience." A small growl accompanied the words.

The three Elite Guards turned to see the small yellow mech leaning against a doorframe, crossing his arms and visibly annoyed.

For a long moment, silence reigned; no one knew what to say or how to say it. Emotions were tangled in confusion laced by happenstance; Jetstorm and Jetfire started to edge away, managing to escape the awkward silence, fleeing down a hall. For a long moment, the former drill sergeant stared down his former recruit, receiving a deep, angry glare in return.

"Hey, I'm sorry all this slag happened.." Sentinel Prime broke the silence first. "But I think we'd all be a lot happ --" A loud, shrill beep accompanied by a large, flashing light interrupted the Autobot commander. Both mechs looked over towards the large hanger doors.

The hanger door slid open with a resounding 'clang'; snow swirled and gently fell outside the open doors. Several figures stood in the snow, waiting for the doors to open fully; once they did, one of the larger shapes rushed inside.

"Bumblebee!" Bulkhead called out in delight, practically leaping at the small yellow mech and lifting him in a tight hug. "I was so worried, little buddy!"

"Ack..!" Bumblebee flailed. "Intakes.. Can't..!"

"Oh!" The large green mech dropped his friend in an unceremonious pile on the floor. "I'm so sorry..!"

"I'm okay." Bumblebee stood up slowly with a hand on his large friend's foot, slightly dizzy. He patted Bulkhead's side. "Yeah, buddy, we talked about the hugs of doom, right? Try not to.." He took in a deep, overdramatic intake. "..Woo.. Think I damaged something."

The humorous exchange was so normal and so unexpected that the other four mechs in the room simply watched it happen. Three of the four had small smiles at the heartwarming sight; the calm it portrayed gave off the air that everything might just be all right.

"Kid, how'r you feeling?" Ratchet walked towards the small bot, followed by Prowl and Optimus Prime.

The soft tone Ratchet used wasn't normal for the crass medic; Bumblebee blinked once, but found he understood why they were being overly gentle. Although, he was still bothered by it. "I've had better solar cycles." He looked to Prowl. "I guess you told them?"

Prowl frowned slightly, apologetic. "I had to. I couldn't keep this from them."

"I know." The small yellow mech sighed. "I know, ninja-bot. Wouldn't've been able to keep it secret for long, anyway."

Optimus opened his mouth to speak, but a loud, shrill shriek interrupted him. The cry was nothing short of a deep, agonizing wail of despair; all of those present turned to stare at the hall it came from, stunned.

"..I guess the scan's done." Bumblebee sputtered after several seconds. "Guess Blurr didn't get good news."

"Blurr?" Optimus sputtered. "..The field agent we met..?"

"Same guy." Bumblebee sighed sadly, looking to the floor. "Shockwave got him."

A deep shudder ran through most of the Autobots present; even Sentinel Prime winced at the thought of sharing a berth with the single-opticked Decepticon. Several seconds passed before Jazz hesitantly walked inside from the same hall, holding a datapad in his hands.

"Is Blurr..?" The smallest mech present looked up with sad optics.

"Yeah.." Jazz, for his part, appeared shaken. "'Fraid so. Jetstorm and Jetfire are with him now."

Bumblebee looked up at Jazz to ask further, but was distracted as Ratchet quickly walked right by him and grabbed the datapad out of the Elite Guard's hands. Jazz only blinked in surprise as the medic peered over the information, anger slowly crossing his face.

"Check it again." Ratchet growled.

"I did." Jazz sighed. "Six times."

"Then run another scan!" The medic growled again, voice rising.

"I _did_." Jazz frowned. "Two different scans on two different computers. All identical. Runnin' a hundred different scans isn't gonna change anything, Ratchet.."

"Is it safe to assume the slag's hit the smelter?" Bumblebee rubbed his face, optics offline. "Seriously, Jazz, both of us?"

"I.." Jazz frowned deeply at the small mech. "I'm afraid so."

"Great. Just, great." Bumblebee sat down hard on the floor, both hands covering his face. Bulkhead rushed over, a large green hand half-hugging his friend.

"Sparklings having sparklings..!" Ratchet snarled, fists clenching. "It's an abomination, is what it is..!"

"Ratchet.." Optimus warned.

"It's not natural!" The medic didn't seem to hear.

"Ratchet!" Optimus called louder.

"Maybe there's a way to abort --"

"_Ratchet!_" This time, Prowl was the one to call out. "For Primus's sake, shut up!"

"What?" Ratchet stopped in surprise. He turned to look at the rest of the Autobots; Bumblebee shook, still covering his face, huddling in to Bulkhead's side. The medic took in a deep intake, finally cooling from his rant. "..Oh. Oh, Primus.."

----------------------------

_Empty belly life_

_Rotten smelly life_

_Full of sorrow life_

_No tomorrow life_

_It's the hard knock life for us!_

_It's the hard knock life for us!_

-- 'It's the Hard Knock Life', Annie (Musical)

----------------------------

Author notes: You aren't surprised by the song choice, are you? ;)


	7. Chapter 7

Author notes: I'm also apparently really bad at writing conversation scenes. Most of this chapter is conversations. Yaaaay, people talking. I'm sure we'll return to the smut all you fellow fangirls/fanboys (o_o)/fanpeople enjoy soon.

I hope this chapter is an awkward for you to read as it was for me to write it. =D *end Daily Show quote*

I'll be updating a bit more infrequently as we go along; work problems. Yaaaay.

By the way, I have absolutely no idea when in the series this diverts from. I sort of picked and chosen which events I prefer to go with; Sari being a teenager, for example. I just like the upgraded version of Sari more than her younger counterpart. So, uh.. THIS IS OFFICIALLY AU NOW, KAY?! :D

RESPOND TO REVIEWS TIME! :D

IthicaJ: *wild cackle* Sari gets more time, now. I actually rather like Sari. So.. Have some Sari goodness.

DreamStoryWeaver: How is it that you're getting more details out of my own fic than I am? XD I seriously did not intend any of the subplot you're reading. And, what, pro-life? ..Giant metal space pro-life? What?

P.A.W.07: The Blurr cube was hand-sewn and even had it's own little fabric spark. XD It was awesome. Anyway, I'll try to add more Blurr goodness as we go along.

Black Dragon Queen: Oh, it can get more complicated. So complicated, in fact, -I- can even have trouble following it. O___O *epic stare*

Dazja: I wasn't only at Otakon, I had an Artist Ally table. =D ..For two days. For four hours a day. ... I got lazy. =D

Little Miss Molly: Funny thing is, my brain originally wanted Sentinel to be a complete aft. My mind originally wanted to have him yelling on a rant about Bumblebee, and Bumblebee kicking his butt in the process, but it.. Just didn't happen that way. It's weird. o.O

Is it me, or is my 'respond' segment becoming as long as the fic itself? o_o

----------------------

_Lived through you_

_Safe with how we lived our lives_

_With how it all turned out_

_(But things are bound to change)_

_Uncovered lies, surfaced throughout,_

_Will make you change your mind_

_Sometimes, life is altered_

_Won't turn out right, Can't turn out right_

_I see my world crumble and fall before my eyes_

_I know, I know_

_Dark will turn to light, in time I'll be alright_

_I know, I know_

_(I never imagined my life could turn out this way_

_So cold, so black, so alone)_

-- 'And All Things Will End', Avenged Sevenfold

----------------------

**Streamline: Chapter Seven**

It had taken over an hour to calm Blurr to a manageable state. The young speedster had been so frantic and anguished by what he had learned that he had nearly destroyed a room simply by running in circles. Running, he claimed, helped him to think and calm down, but the walls were not made to have feet pounding against it. In the end, a large amount of sedatives had to be directly injected in to his systems to calm him down.

Despite the amount of drugs in his system, the blue mech was still awake. Abnormally slow and subdued, but awake; he even sat with the rest of the Autobots on an impromptu meeting in the control center. Since the Elite Guard craft had been designed for a larger crew, it wasn't difficult to find a table large enough for all the Autobots on board.

"I don't think it's safe on Earth, anymore." Strangely, Bumblebee was the first to speak; he slumped slightly, arms on the table and gaze centered on his own hands.

"Probably not." Jazz frowned in visible concern. "This ship's got field disrupters to mask our energy signatures, but we'd be easy to spot outside."

Optimus glanced to the small yellow mech sitting next to him for a moment, but then looked to Jazz and Sentinel Prime. "Are there even any precedents to go by?"

"Not many." Jazz shrugged helplessly, knowing what the Prime referred to without having to ask.

"Not with Autobots." Sentinel, to his credit, was taking the situation with a grave seriousness he didn't ordinarily possess. "Decepticons, yeah, there's been a bunch of kids that have been through the slagger, but we don't have a lot of records on it. Most of the poor kids are offline."

"Offline?" The alarm on Bulkhead's face was mirrored on most of the other mechs.

"As far as I know, the few Decepticons that came to us for help either, uhm.." Sentinel winced a little. "..Took themselves offline or didn't survive the whole.. Sparkling thing."

Both Bumblebee and Blurr gaped in sudden terror. "Ididn'tknowhavingasparklingcoulddothat." The latter whimpered.

"They were very, very young bots." Jazz cringed a little simply thinking about it. "Too small to have a growing sparkling and their own spark at the same time."

"..Dowehavethatproblem?" Blurr nearly whispered, frightened.

"You.. Might." Ratchet winced. "I've never heard of even a femme your age and size having this situation, even during the wars. And femmes have a larger chassis to hold sparklings." He took a breath. "At the same time, it could all be absolutely painless and.. Normal, or as normal as this can get."

"The oldest of your generation are still only your age." Prowl looked to the pair, frowning deeply; although the ninja was rather young as well, he had been sparked quite a few decacycles before his yellow friend. He had missed the danger by less than a vorn. "It may be a good idea to upgrade to a larger chassis, if only for --"

"No." Bumblebee frowned, instantly annoyed. "Not happening. I'm not a femme and I'm not getting breasts."

Several blank stares met his comment; confusion swept along even his closest friends' faces.

"..What's a breast?" Both Jetfire and Jetstorm asked simultaneously, the former blinking.

"It's what the humans call the things on their females and, you know what, no, it's just not happening." The yellow mech covered his face with a hand; had he been able, he would have flushed. "I'm not a femme."

"We won't push it." Ratchet frowned. "But let someone know if there's any pain. Both of you."

"So.. What'stheplan?" Blurr frowned. "Wecan'tstayonthisplanet, right? ..ArewegoingtoCybertron?"

"What about Sari?" Bumblebee looked to Optimus. "She's at least part Cybertronian, isn't she? Doesn't that make her a femme?"

"..I didn't think about that." Optimus frowned.

"Who's Sari?" Jazz blinked.

"Remember that little human girl you met the first time you came here?" Bulkhead smiled slightly. "That's Sari."

"She's a bot?" Jazz boggled. "..When did _that_ happen?"

"Long story." Bumblebee smirked wryly. "We didn't know until recently."

"We can pick up the kid and then head to Cybertron." Sentinel twitched slightly, barely reigning in his annoyance. "Ultra Magnus will probably tell us to go to Iacon. I'll call him and we'll see where we go from there, I guess.."

----------------------

Convincing Sari to come aboard the Elite Guard ship hadn't been the difficult part; after all, the young girl had sorely missed Bumblebee and had been deeply worried about him. When the teenager ran aboard the ship, the first thing she did was hug the yellow Autobot's leg.

"Bumblebee!" The technorganic hugged tight. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too." Bumblebee gently hugged the girl with both hands on her back, a sad smile crossing his face. "Sari, something really bad happened, and we have to go back to Cybertron for a while."

"What?" Sari looked up in shock. "You're leaving?! But.. I.. Why? What happened..?!"

"Oh boy." Bumblebee looked up to the rest of the Autobots for a brief moment. "Uhm.."

"I'll explain it." Optimus Prime stepped forward. The rest of the Autobots looked on warily; Optimus had never been known to explain things properly. The fire truck knelt down to look at Sari a little closer. "Sari, you know that all Cybertronians have sparks inside them, right?" At the slight nod, he smiled. "Well, when we're sparked, we're given a designation similar to your males and females. Well, when Bumblebee's generation was sparked, something.. Different happened and, uhm.."

"..Are you trying to tell me Bumblebee is a girl?" Sari blinked. Bumblebee slapped his forehead.

"Well, actually.." Optimus started; at a deep glare from the yellow mech, he sputtered. "No, technically not. Uhm.. Anyway, when a mech and femme decide to have a sparkling, their sparks meet each other to try and.. Uhm.."

"This is the most awkward conversation I've ever heard in my life." Jazz boggled.

"Ifthiswasn'tsowrong, I'dbelaughing." Blurr admitted, shaking his head in a quick flurry.

"Anyway!" Optimus let out an intake, trying to maintain some sort of calm despite the odd topic. "Bumblebee's generation doesn't have to need a mech and femme.. All of the bots sparked since then can make new sparklings with just about anyone."

Sari took this in and pondered over it for several seconds. "You told me Bumblebee was kidnapped."

"I was." Bumblebee grumbled, thoroughly annoyed at his commander.

The young woman looked from Bumblebee to Optimus, newly teenage mind processing the new information with growing alarm. "Wait, wait, are you trying to tell me Bumblebee was _raped_?!"

A blank stare met her words. "I.. Don't know what that word means."

"Oh, lord." Sari rubbed her face; now it was her turn to feel awkward. "It's when someone forces someone else to have --"

"_Yes_." The yellow mech hugging her interrupted, visibly wincing. "Yeah, can we just.. Move away from this conversation, now? Please?"

"Oh, my god." Sari hugged her friend even tighter, although the yellow bot barely felt it. "You're _pregnant!?_" More blank stares met the question.

"I think we need a translator." Prowl mumbled.

"If that means what I think it means, yeah." Bumblebee winced, optics twitching slightly. "That's why we need to go to Cybertron. Sari, you need to come with us."

"Huh? What? Why?" The human looked up in surprise.

"You're technically a Cybertronian, a femme." Ratchet finally piped up, walking towards the group. "If Decepticons find out about that, you're going to be in trouble."

"But.. I can't just leave my dad!" Sari frowned deeply. "How long are we going to be gone?"

"Can't really say.." Optimus frowned as well. "We don't know, but Earth isn't safe. Not anymore."

"It's not like you're going to leave your, uhm, dad in the dark." Optimus tried to smile; it was visibly forced. He wasn't yet used to the human lexicon. "We get calls from Cybertron all the time, and the rest of us will still be on Earth to watch for Decepticons."

"You're not coming?" Sari frowned, confused.

"It's just gonna be you and me, Sari." Bumblebee gave his hug a little squeeze, trying to bring in some of the old humor. "And the Elite Guard and Blurr, but mostly just you and me."

"I'm going to have to pack my stuff.." Sari let out a deep breath. "Can I have an hour to tell my dad and get my stuff..?"

"Try to make it quick, kid." Sentinel grumbled, sitting nearby. "The sooner we're off this mudball, the better."

Sari looked up to Bumblebee with wide, worried eyes; the yellow mech smiled the best he could down at her and gave her a small nudge. "Don't bring Sparkplug."

The human let out a quick, nervous laugh, giving her best friend a worried smile. Then, she turned and ran out of the Elite Guard ship, rushing for the Sumdac laboratory she called home.

----------------------

The Earth-bound Autobots had decided to stay aboard the Elite Guard craft until the very last nano-klik, unwilling to leave their friend any earlier than was required. Surprisingly, Sentinel hadn't let out a single complaint about it all; no one really knew why he was being so cooperative, but no one dared question it and possibly ruin the rare good fortune.

The large craft was parked a short few miles outside of Detroit; not the safest place to be, but continuous scans of the area showed no Decepticon energy signatures or any visuals of Decepticon craft. Even the regular thugs and two-bit criminals in the city itself seemed to be behaving today; perhaps the universe was finally giving them a break.

It was barely fifteen minutes before Sari was set to return and Optimus Prime's crew would have to leave the craft that a rather ominous, yet soft sound caused everyone to go on instant alarm.

"Uh-oh." Jetstorm's voice rent the air.

"Uh-oh? What do you mean, uh-oh?" Sentinel stared, walking over to the screen both twins were gaping at. His expression mirrored their stunned horror. "..That's.. That's.. Yeah."

"What'sgoingonwhyisthereanuhoh? Uhohisneveragoodthing!" Blurr rushed forward, stopped in a quick halt and stared at the screen. "OhdearPrimus_why_?!"

"Will someone tell us what's going on?!" Ratchet finally bellowed.

Jetfire looked to the rest of the Autobots, glanced to his brother, and then pressed a few keys on the console. The image on the small screen instantly went to the largest panel in the communications center, one intended for actual calls.

A modern day 'Wanted' poster flashing pictures of both Bumblebee and Blurr crossed the panel in a split screen; the images were accompanied by rather large reward amounts, as well as a 'no reward if offline' caption. The reward for the yellow mech was quite a bit more than the other, but both numbers were still incredibly large.

"..I've never seen so many zeroes before." Sentinel sputtered. At that, Blurr let out a loud whimper and clutched his head, panic setting in.

"I didn't know the Decepticons _had_ that kind of scratch." Jazz gaped.

"Every bounty hunter in the universe is gonna see this." Bulkhead boggled, horrified.

Bumblebee stared at the screen for several seconds, optics wide in shock and horror. He then covered his face with both hands. "I'm so slagged."

"If Megatron is trying to get bounty hunters in this.." Optimus set a hand on Bumblebee's shoulder, not noticing the small shudder that ran through the small mech's frame at the mention of the Decepticon leaders' name. "..Then he's getting desperate."

"That's not a good thing!" Bumblebee's voice pitched as he uncovered his face and looking up. "That _really _isn't a good thing!"

"All right, nobody panic!" Sentinel let out an intake. "When the kid gets back in here, we're off this Primus-forsaken planet. We stop for nothing, got it?! Optimus, get your peoples' afts off this ship so we can make a slagging run for Cybertron!"

For once, no one argued with Sentinel.

----------------------

_When I see you, I can read it in your eyes_

_Fate misunderstood_

_(But things are bound to change)_

_Swallowed the lies, can't blame you for_

_Thinking with your heart_

_Sometimes life is altered_

_Break from the ropes, your hands are tied_

_Uneasy with confrontation_

_Won't turn out right, Can't turn out right_

_Living goes by fast, catch your breath_

_And it will pass you by_

_And it won't last, to sulk with the memories you hold_

-- 'And All Things Will End', Avenged Sevenfold


	8. Chapter 8

Author notes: I had an odd amount of writers block with this chapter. Unsure why. Hrm.

My spellcheck doesn't like Blurr's speech pattern. XD

Hay, it's RESPOND TIME! YAY!

DreamStoryWeaver: I imagine Sari's still a sparkling herself. Transformers DO live a long, LONG time, and she's, what, only been around ten years? Even in her teenage body. Ah, well. As for the whole 'sub-plot' thing: I've written things before where my brain will plan things and not tell me. It'll slide something in at an early chapter that I'll have no idea what it's there for, and then eight or nine chapters later, IT MAKES SENSE. I have an evil, evil brain. So, there may just be a subplot; I just may not see it. XD

Nolay: ..Was that a compliment or an insult?

Black Dragon Queen: o.O is an emoticon face. :D As for Sentinel, you'll see~

Lil' Pup: ..Was that a statement on the story in general, or on my writing style? XD

IthicaJ: Your reviews make me happy and my brain get full of itself. =D

-------------------------------

_I am outside_

_And I've been waiting for the sun_

_With my wide eyes_

_I've seen worlds that don't belong_

_My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize_

_Tell me why we live like this_

_'Cause we are broken_

_What must we do to restore_

_Our innocence_

_And, oh, the promise we adored_

_Give us life again_

_'Cause we just wanna be whole_

-- 'We Are Broken', Paramore

**Streamline: Chapter Eight**

-------------------------------

"Sari, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Bumblebee grinned widely, gazing down at the smug teenager.

"No, but I knew you would now." Sari couldn't help a slightly impish giggle.

Boxes and boxes of the young woman's belongings -- her entire life packed in a frenzy -- were being set up in a spare room. To a normal human, she would have had a small mountain of things with her; to the Autobots, it could have all fit in to a drawer. She hadn't neglected anything, unsure how long she would be away from home, and had made certain particular items were in the boxes.

At the moment, she was attempting to hook up a video game system in to Cybertronian technology. Her father had built a quick converter in the short hour they had to pack and, much to everyone's surprise, it actually worked; the loading screen flashed on a spare panel.

To say that a particularly small yellow Autobot was thrilled was an understatement; one of the things he had terribly missed in his fortnight of captivity was simply playing with his best friend on one of these games.

"Guess what I have..!" Sari sang, holding up a small, wrapped case.

"Oooh, a new game?" Bumblebee peered down at the shrink-wrapped CD. "I would've been happy with just the Ninja Gladiator games.."

"Ninja Gladiator _Tournament_." Sari practically cackled. "It's the Japanese pre-release, but dad has a business contact in Japan and, well.."

The yellow Autobot above her actually let out a delighted squeal; the semiorganic gave her friend an amused stare. Bright blue optics simply grinned down at her. "You have no idea how happy I am right now."

After a few minutes of plugging in several different wires and converters -- Cybertronian technology worked on an entirely different electrical system than Americans did, yet were strangely similar to British plugs --, all of the wireless controllers and charging centers had been set up. Amidst the myriad of things Sari had brought with her, a small refrigerator stocked with snacks and sodas had been set up by the games; not enough to last more than a couple of weeks, but the young woman assumed they would get to Cybertron by then.

Not long after that, laughter rang around the room and down the hall. The two youngsters quickly became engrossed in the simple fighting game, spirits getting lost in the joyful familiarity; it was delightful enough that Bumblebee actually managed to forget about the burning ember deep in his own spark and the predicament as a whole.

The two had managed to forget everything in their play; it was for that reason alone that they were outright jolted from childish fantasies when a voice that belonged to neither of them interrupted the game.

"Heywhat'sgoingoninhere?" Blurr peeked in from the door. "Whatisthatstuff?"

"Video games!" Sari cheered. "Come on, eight players can play this! Come play with us!"

The request was so unusual to the speedster that he actually walked in slowly; growing up with scientists and Elite Guards hadn't left much time to simply play. "..What'savideogame?"

"Here." Bumblebee tossed an oversized controller to the blue mech; Blurr floundered with it for a moment. "We'll teach you how to play!"

Not too long after, Jetstorm and Jetfire had stumbled along the odd gaming session. They both recalled a similar game from their visit to Earth and how much fun it had been, so they quickly joined in on the play. Thankfully, Professor Sumdac had built numerous enlarged video game controllers just for this reason.

"It is not being fair!" Jetstorm pouted. "All of mech persons in game is being taken! I am not wanting for being femme!"

Sari giggled. "The one in the red kimono has fire powers."

"What'sakimono?" Blurr blinked. "Thedressthing?"

"Ooh, fire power!" Jetfire abandoned his avatar and selected the red-clad woman on screen.

"What in Primus's name is going on in here?!" A loud, baffled voice rang from the door.

All five of the young bots turned to look; the twin jets seemed to shrink a little.

"We're playing a game.." Sari frowned at Sentinel Prime. "I brought the game from home.."

Sentinel stood there for several seconds, twitching slightly. "..Keep it down, then. I'm trying to get some recharge." With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

Jetstorm and Jetfire exchanged an incredulous look, flabbergasted at their good fortune.

"Is it me, or has he been acting weirder than usual?" Bumblebee blinked. "He's barely yelled at all."

"Uhm.. Who cares!" Sari forced a smile, trying to distract the stunned mechs. "Let's keep playing!"

-------------------------------

Sentinel Prime twitched slightly as he walked away from the spare room given to the very small femme. Oh, he had certainly been annoyed by the noise -- more annoyed than he could properly let on --, but he used everything he had to reign his temper in.

"S.P.?" Jazz called from behind him. "What was that all about? You've never been this soft on anyone. You okay, man?"

Sentinel didn't answer; he folded his arms and glared out the window, musing. Perhaps his silence only compounded that something was, in fact, wrong; Jazz walked to his commanders' side.

"S.P.?"

The large blue mech continued to glare out the window. Yet, he released a slight intake. "Remember that surprise mission about half a lunar cycle back?"

"The big hush-hush, no-one-in-who-isn't-Prime-or-above mission?" Jazz blinked. "Or are we talking a bit less major?"

"That one." Sentinel let out a deep, strained intake. "It's not in any of the records. All classified, and I'll get slagged if I tell you this now.."

Jazz blinked in surprise. "This won't go past me, S.P."

Sentinel let out another intake; whatever was on the large mech's processor was clearly troubling him. "We were told it was a merchant vessel with contraband. Me and a dozen other Primes were called in to handle it, and anyone who was a lower rank actually had to sign a silence contract. It was _that_ big of a deal." He paused a moment.

Jazz frowned, not liking where the story was going; his voice hushed in understanding. "It was a slaver ship, wasn't it?"

Sentinel gave the cyber-ninja a surprised glance, but nodded slightly. He slowly looked back out the window. "Kids. Sparklings. A lot of them were barely out of their protoform or second stage, yet. Couldn't even transform, yet, a lot of 'em. Autobot, Decepticon, neutral kids. Dozens of 'em, all packed in this tiny ship like energon cubes on transport."

"Primus.." Jazz's visor optic widened in horror.

"That's not even the worst of it." Sentinel shook his head a little, yet continued to glare out the window. "There was this little kid.. Barely a protoform. Half a vorn old, if that. The kid didn't have a second mode and couldn't transform, and already had a second spark growing in his frame. The slagging head of the slaver crew actually tried to make a sparkling with the kid!"

"Primus.." Jazz half whispered again. "Is this.. Spreading? Slavers are going after kids, now?" It was a terribly disturbing concept; sparklings had been safe in the past simply because the maintenance and constant upgrades the young needed had been more trouble than it was worth to slave hunters.

"Looks like it." Sentinel growled at the distant stars. "That kid offlined two solar cycles later, by the way."

"That's why you're being nice to the kids.." Jazz looked to the floor, processor still attempting to digest what he had learned despite the horror. "Can't say I blame you.."

A sudden, loud laugh came from down the hall. "That is not being fair! You are having super-fast fingers!"

Both adult mechs glanced down the hall, silent.

After several cycles, Sentinel took in a deep intake. "They can stay in there and play all they want. Primus knows things are gonna get slagged again sooner or later." With that, he turned away from the window and walked away, not even sparing Jazz a glance.

-------------------------------

_In the short couple of weeks he had spent in captivity, Bumblebee had learned many things he wished he hadn't. After several days of the same terrible things practically set on repeat and fearing the rest of his life would be the same, he had forced himself to pay more attention than he had wanted to, looking for anything at all that could help him._

_He hadn't known that a simple caress could be filled with so much dread. He hadn't known that a kiss could be perverse. He hadn't known that a short glance could be as dangerous as a blade._

_He had learned. He had learned what his tormentors' very body language looked like when he was feeling pleasant or furious. Primarily, he had learned that recharge could be just as dangerous a time as the conscious hours; especially when the monster he was forced to recharge with had very active dreams._

_It had been the third night Prowl had managed to contact him that it truly became apparent. Thus far, the uncomfortable shifting of the mech on top of him had been dreadful, but ignorable; he had been able to recharge through it. Tonight, it was outright molestation; large hands were going over his frame with all the careful tenderness of a lover._

_The small Autobot had shivered, biting his glossa to keep from weeping. Prowl had attempted to distract him the entire time, full of promises and reassurances; it hadn't been enough. In a fit of desperation, he had tried to push the large mech off._

_It had been a mistake; the small shove outright woke up the Decepticon lord, bright crimson optics onlining with terrifying suddenness. The small yellow mech had frozen from sheer fright, own bright blue optics widening and intake hushed. Even Prowl went quiet in his processor._

_At first, Megatron simply stared in a half-awake stupor; then, his optics narrowed, peering down at his terrified bedmate. After several seconds of silent inspection and visible suspicion, the Decepticon spoke, tone slow and dangerous. "Who are you speaking to?"_

_For a moment, Bumblebee panicked; the bond allowed the Decepticon lord and Autobot prisoner to feel each others' emotions, and he worried that his captor had learned of the silent contact with the friend through it._

_Frightened, he had decided to lie. "W.. What? Nobody.."_

_A long cycle came and went. Then, Megatron smirked. "It does not matter. You are mine --" He stopped abruptly, a strange look crossing his face for a moment. Whatever had bothered him, however, was quickly shrugged off._

_Despite the overwhelming terror, the strangely cut off tone set him on edge. It had taken him a moment to understand what it had meant; his spark clutched in new anguish._

_He had been kidnapped, tortured, molested and forcefully bonded, and the monster didn't know his name._

_Megatron didn't know his __**name**__._

_"My name.." The small mech hissed, the now beloved fury that protected his despair returning. "Is Bumblebee."_

_Megatron paused in dull surprise. "Isn't that a type of insect?"_

_Bumblebee hissed again at the insult._

_"You Autobots always have such odd names for your own." The Decepticon chuckled slightly; even his laughter was filled with darkness. A large hand gently caressed a yellow helm; the small shudder ran through the prisoners' frame at the faux kindness, but he refused to look away. "You may be an insect, but you are my insect. My golden insect." A small, wicked grin crossed his face. "A gold bug. A fitting new name, perhaps. My Goldbug."_

-------------------------------

With a soft cry, Bumblebee woke from recharge. The nightmare and memory were still fading from his processor, too slow for comfort; a glance at a clock proclaimed that it was far too early to be awake. Yet, he doubted he would be able to fall back in to recharge again; not tonight, at any rate.

Grumbling, the small Autobot got off his berth and glanced to the small, still sleeping form of his best friend; Sari had brought along her own bed and bed sheets for the journey, the large pink blankets practically covering her from head to toe. She hadn't woken up from his yell; a good thing, as far as he was concerned.

Sighing softly, the yellow mech quietly snuck out of the shared room and aimlessly wandered down the halls of the Elite Guard ship. The craft had a good number of large windows looking out at the stars; he almost stopped to look at the faintly glittering lights when he noticed another mech standing in the distance.

"Couldn't recharge, huh?" Bumblebee sighed, walking towards the lone figure.

A spiked blue head turned to look at him, fatigue and depression clear. "Notabit. Youtoo, huh?"

Bumblebee shook his head slightly, leaning against the railing next to Blurr to look out the window. "I don't think we'll be able to recharge right for a while."

"Ifeveragain." The blue mech moaned. "Probablywon'tevenfeelsafeonCybertron."

"Who knows." Bumblebee smirked wryly. "We're a matter of universal security, now, so we'll probably have a slag-heap of bots protecting our afts."

Blurr blinked. "Universalsecurity?" At the knowing look from his yellow friend, he looked back out the window. "Oh. Right. Thewhole'highrankingDecepticon'thing." He shook his head slightly. "Theyknow, youknow."

"What?" The yellow Autobot frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Whatdoyou_think_Imean? There'sabajillioncreditbountyonourheads! Theyknowaboutthe.. About_that_! 'Norewardifdead', whyelsewouldtheygothroughthetrouble?!"

Bumblebee did not like where the conversation had wound up. Still, he came to the same conclusions as his blue friend, even if he didn't understand half of what Blurr had said. "Once we get to Cybertron, we should be safe.."

"Ifweeven_get_toCybertron!" Blurr's intake hitched; he began to panic simply thinking about recapture.

"Hey. Hey!" Bumblebee snapped a finger in front of Blurr's face. "Stay with me, zippy. It.. I.." He blinked at some flashing lights in the distance. "..Uhm.. Is that a ship?"

Blurr looked out the window, briefly distracted from madness. "..Lookslikeit. Maybeit'safriendly?" His voice pitched.

Silence reigned for several seconds as both young mechs peered in to the grand expanse of space, looking at the odd ship. As it grew closer, Bumblebee gasped, optics widening.

"What? What'sgoingon? Areweintrouble?!" Blurr whimpered.

Bumblebee didn't answer. Instead, he ran down the hall, spotting a manual 'emergency alarm' on the wall. Without so much as an explanation to his cerulean friend, he threw off the protective plexiglass and pulled the lever, blaring klaxons throughout the ship.

A few tense seconds came and went; Sentinel Prime ran down the hall, followed closely by the rest of the ship's crew. "What in Primus's name is going on?!"

Bumblebee simply pointed out the window. "Lockdown."

-------------------------------

_'Cause we are broken_

_What must we do to restore_

_Our innocence_

_And, oh, the promise we adored_

_Give us life again_

_'Cause we just wanna be whole_

-- 'We Are Broken', Paramore


	9. Chapter 9

Author notes: Kind of a short chapter, mostly from writers block. Also, I suck at writing fighting and battle scenes. Have I mentioned I'm really, really bad at writing those? ... You've been warned. I'm so sorry. XD

As of this point, I have NO IDEA where I'm going with this. My brain didn't think this far ahead and is now just giving me a, 'Hey, you're guess is as good as mine' shrug. I'll seriously listen to all and any suggestions. Who knows, one of you reviewers might give my brain a good idea or two. XD;

Warnings: Uh.. A seriously badly written fight scene. ^^;

RESPOND TO REVIEW TIME!

Tigerwolf204: Originally, my brain DID want Blurr to off himself, but we passed the point where my brain wanted it to happen, so.. I really have no idea anymore. More flashbacks will occur at some point. I'm apparently good at those. o_O

P.A.W.07: ..You're not gonna like how this ends. *hides*

IthicaJ: I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain it later on, so I may as well say so now. It was sheer convenience; Bee was just on the wrong planet at the wrong time. Shockwaves' 'sixth time might be the charm' comment signified five other young bots were already offered and just.. Didn't survive the bonding thing. Bee's just the first to live through it.

Little Miss Molly: I'm quite proud of myself for making you late for work. =D The 'sexytiem' made me burst out laughing; not the night before, my brain suggested I write an angsty Lockdown/Prowl one. I'm unsure if I will or not.

Black Dragon Queen: Goldbug does, indeed, have a significance. Although, it's my geeky side making a G1 reference. G1 is the 80's cartoon, if you're wondering. ...Look it up on the Transformers wikia. XD

Evil E. Evil: That was, singularly, the best review I've ever gotten.

-------------------------

_Falling from the sky now_

_The sign of the burning sun_

_Into the face of the evil one_

_Nowhere to hide now _

_We're right before your eyes_

_We're watching, we're waiting_

_Our souls are forsaken_

_The sign of the warriors, that evil will rise_

_Through the fire and the flames_

_Breaking the chains_

_Into the night we go_

_Torment and pain, trample the slain_

_Such as the death we know_

--- 'Cry For Eternity', Dragonforce

**Streamline: Chapter Nine**

-------------------------

Despite the clear fact that the bounty hunter known as Lockdown was a very dangerous character, the Elite Guard still had a certain protocol to follow. The moment the alarms blared and the ship was pointed out, Sentinel Prime had started blaring orders from the old textbooks practically verbatim; although, the smaller crew required some changes to the usual routine.

"Jetfire, Jetstorm, take the kids to the weapon storage and buckle down. Triple encryption password on the door and arm yourself up. Don't leave the room until Jazz or I get there, got it?!" Sentinel's optics twitched as he glared at the distant ship.

"Okiedokie, Sentinel sir!" Neither twin argued and, surprisingly, neither did anyone else; the group of young bots rushed to the weapons locker without another word.

Sentinel Prime signaled for Jazz to follow him without a sound -- simply a couple of fingers in the air in the style soldiers are taught to do in the field -- and headed for the command center.

"We're actually doing this by the book?" Jazz remarked in surprise even as Sentinel sat in the captains' chair; he couldn't recall the last time his commander had done anything by the typical rules.

"Just wait for it." Sentinel twitched. "The slagger'll call."

"What?" Jazz sat down by his usual station. "How are you so sure --" The console in front of him let out a beep, signaling an incoming hail from the nearby ship. "..Well, I'll be." He didn't have to be told to connect the call through; a few button taps later, and the main screen lit up.

"Well, well, well." Lockdown's visage appeared on screen, grinning in his atypical smug fashion. "If it isn't my old friend. Should have figured you'd be in the area."

Sentinel Prime twitched in visible annoyance. "What the slag are you calling for, bounty hunter?"

"Ah, so we're playing this game, are we?" Lockdown chuckled. "I know you have a certain.. Cargo on your ship that the Decepticons are paying a pretty nice chunk of change for. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, and I don't really care which."

"One, I have no idea what you're talking about." Sentinel lied smoothly. "Two, you're threatening an Elite Guard vessel, a _federal offense_." His voice was raising to his usual angry volume. "Third, you have a warrant for your arrest, you son of a glitch, so don't you threaten me or I will kick your aftplate to Cybertron and back, do you _get _me?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya." The smirk persisted on Lockedown's face, but a brow raised, amused. "So, I'm going to put you down for 'hard way', then." With that, the bounty hunter cut off the call.

"That son of a..!" Sentinel twitched. "..Shields up."

"They never went down." Jazz boggled at the speed the situation had progressed. He had expected to come across a bounty hunter or two along the way, he simply hadn't expected it so soon; they had barely been off Earth two solar cycles. "You think he's going to try and attack?"

The ship did not rumble; automated gravity centers did not allow movement to transcend across space. The only sign that anything was happening at all was the complete lack of Lockdown's ship on screen and a small alarm blaring on the main console.

"Slagger's trying to board!" Sentinel growled, completely unsurprised but furious nonetheless. He began to rush out of the room. "I'm going to kick his aft!"

-------------------------

"So.." Sari began, covered from head to toe in bright yellow armor as she hefted a 'small' pistol almost as large as she was. "Who's Lockdown?"

"Crazy bounty hunter." Bumblebee perused the vast collection of Elite Guard weaponry along the walls. "Steals body parts as trophies, to boot."

"..So, he's a horror movie reject." Sari surmised, standing on a small table and adjusting her posture to the weapon. "Gotcha."

"Thisisn'tajoke!" Blurr practically wailed, rushing between weapons and clipping on anything and everything that could fit. "Lockdownisafraggingscarybountyhunter! Aslagloadofpeopletriedtotakehimdownandtheyall_failed_!"

"Sentinel Prime and Jazz will be making bad bounty hunter vamoose!" Jetfire grinned, wielding no additional weaponry other than his natural gifts.

"Sentinel Prime and Jazz is always making bad persons vamoose." Jetstorm bore an identical grin to his twin, standing by the closed and locked door. "This is not being different time."

A sudden crash and loud yell from beyond the thick doors caused all heads to turn in complete, stunned silence. The yelling -- Sentinel Prime, although what he was yelling was indecipherable -- only increased as the cycles went on and was quickly joined by the sound of blaster fire.

The cacophony of sound and violence went on for minute after minute; the seconds seemed more like vorns as the clear sounds of metal hitting metal rent the air. The unmistakable sound of Sentinel's lance hitting another object could be heard despite the thick doors, but was quickly followed by a loud, horrible shriek of pain; Lockdown's laughter echoed in the hall almost immediately.

_"Sentinel!"_ Jazz's scream was clear, full of panic.

"That can't be good." Bumblebee sputtered, staring at the door in wide-optic stillness. Blurr whimpered in response, grabbing even more guns and blasters from their mounts.

"We need to be helping..!" Jetstorm glanced back to the other young bots.

"No!" Sari looked up at the azure twin. "Lockdown's trying to lure us out!"

"If they are being dead --" Jetfire gaped.

"Guys!" Bumblebee waved his arms, holding a pair of blasters himself. "Guys, be quiet!"

All three quieted down and they quickly realized why their yellow friend had ordered them to do so; nothing but silence came from beyond the thick doors. No fighting, no yells, not even laughter from the bounty hunter. The silence was deafening with all it represented.

The five bots simply stood in terror and stared at the door, waiting for something, anything to happen. A long few seconds of hushed fright passed; then, a loud thud -- something slamming against the door -- came from outside.

"Ohslag." Blurr whimpered, clutching his weapons.

The ramming thud came again; with it, the metal warped and dented outward. The dent quickly deepened and broadened as whatever was hitting the door hit it again and again. The mechs and femme raised their weapons, aiming at the quickly collapsing shield; the entire lower half of the split-sealed door collapsed with the resonating cry of broken metal.

All that they needed to see was the flash of Lockdown's unique mismatched legs to begin firing; a mix of elemental-based weaponry and standard laser fire split the air for several cycles before they eventually stopped. Several guns with empty ammo casings were tossed aside and new ones picked up.

Once the rapid fire ended, Lockdown peeked through the missing lower half of the doors, grinning smugly; Jazz's stasis-locked frame was held in his arms. At the sight of the unconscious mech, the five youths stopped; the bounty hunter slipped in to the room, still holding the living shield.

"That was fun." Lockdown grinned smugly. "My, my, I didn't know there was four --" He stopped, blinking at the sight of Sari. "..I don't know what you are, but I'm sure you'll fetch something on the markets."

"Put him down!" Bumblebee hissed, stingers crackling with barely restrained electricity. "Put him down right now!"

"Oh, him?" Lockdown lifted Jazz's still form ever so slightly, visibly amused. "Oh, I'm not after him. Not when the biggest bounty in history is standing right in front of me. I don't know what you did to blow off Megatron's exhaust port, but you kids are worth _billions_." His claw cradled the stasis-locked ninja in his arms. "So, why don't you be good little bots and come along quietly, or your friend here will end up missing a few parts."

A quick, nearly unseen blue miasma swam through the air; it happened so fast that Lockdown hadn't even noticed his hostage was gone until a nanoclik too late, quickly spotting the ninja laying on the floor behind the children.

"Don'tthinkso!" Blurr set Jazz on the ground, glaring at the bounty hunter. "Firefirefirefirefirefire!"

They did; the renewal of weaponry was in such abundance that the five couldn't even see through the mess of color and flashing lights. After a few seconds, they stopped only to see if Lockdown had been hit.

He had not; instead, a soft, purple glow covered him. The bounty hunter laughed. "Gotta hand it to that Swindle guy. This 'negatronic shield' actually works."

"_Sonofaglitch_!" Blurr's voice pitched in frustration.

"Brother!" Jetstorm called out. His twin turned towards him and simply nodded; a quick shift of dual transformation mechanisms combined the two frames in to a single, tall, mismatched and very angry mech.

"Leave! Now!" Safeguard growled at Lockdown, twin voices calling together.

For a moment, Lockdown appeared surprised; then, a grin crossed his face. "Well, that's different." The bounty hunter ran towards the combined set of twins, chainsaw rushing at a split-shade head.

Safeguard ducked the swirling mass of metal, ducking low and rushing to come up behind the bounty hunter; a small tornado of fire and wind erupted from mismatched hands. The elemental attack struck Lockdown in the back; despite a visibly injury, he quickly got up again and simply laughed.

"Not good enough!" Lockdown laughed, rushing forward with the chainsaw again; with his back turned to the three not in the fight, weapon fire rained upon the bounty hunters' back. However, the attempt to aid Safeguard had the unfortunate effect of pushing the dark mech with more momentum than he originally had; the still moving chainsaw tore through Safeguard's chest, almost directly atop the split seam.

Both twins screamed together and were forced to transform; Jetfire and Jetstorm collapsed against the walls, each clutching the ripped, torn and leaking identical wounds on the either side of their bodies.

Electricity arched through the air with a furious cry; Lockdown brought up Sentinel Prime's shield and laughed, taking in the blow before rushing at the small yellow mech. A blue mass rushed forward, grabbing hold of Bumblebee to take him out of harms' way. Much to Blurr's shock, Lockdown swiftly caught them both in the attempted rescue, one hand around the speedsters' neck and a large foot kicking Bumblebee to the floor. Both flailed and struggled -- Bumblebee yelling obscenities -- before the bounty hunter slammed one mech atop the other.

Both Blurr and Bumblebee yelped in shock and pain as their skulls met each other. Then, they lay in a groaning mass, barely conscious.

"That was easier than I thought." Lockdown chuckled. A single blast met his back -- too small to cause more than a dent -- and he turned to look at a very small, very frightened femme wielding a pistol. He laughed. "I almost forgot about you!"

"Leave them alone!" Sari shrieked, firing again. The pistol bolt struck a green arm and appeared to do nothing.

"What are you, anyway?" Lockdown peered at the small girl. "An organic? A _human?_ You're about the right size.."

The young woman shook in terror, glaring at the very large mech. "Don't you dare take them away!"

Lockdown laughed. "And what are you going to do about it?"

For a moment, Sari did nothing. She simply stood there, sputtering in fury and frustration. She was entirely too small to take the bounty hunter in a real fight and they both knew it.

Neither of them noticed the soft glow emanating from the small woman's chest until she was practically ablaze; it took nearly five full seconds until a thick, strong and sudden bolt of light erupted from Sari's eyes and faceplate, striking Lockdown square in the chest.

The bounty hunter roared and fell back, clutching at the deep, sparking burn. "What in the pit?!"

Sari stood in shock for a brief moment; then, she took in a deep breath. "I can't let you take them!" She clenched her fists, willing whatever energy it had been to return. It took a few seconds longer, but it did. In fact, it came again and again; the small transorganic fired on the bounty hunter even when he began to scream and clear after he had stopped.

She fired until she couldn't find any more energy within her, exhaustion wracking her frame. Only then did she notice that Lockdown was in quite a number of pieces and a deep, dull gray. It took several seconds more to realize what she had done; she collapsed to her knees. "Oh my god.."

-------------------------

_Hold your head to the sky_

_Bleeding, we cry_

_Screaming until we know_

_Fire and pain, beginning again_

_Onwards to Hell we go_

_Stand strong, we'll live forever_

_Raging through the barren lands_

_Our eyes have seen the sorrow far across the stars_

-- 'Cry for Eternity', Dragonforce

-------------------------

Author notes: ..Seriously, I have no idea where this is going. Suggest things! It might help! XD


	10. Chapter 10

Author notes: ..It's a filler chapter with no real plot. More flashbacks and little tidbits than anything else. Sorry. XD I just wanted to get SOMETHING out. My brain now has a general idea of where it's going, though, so we might actually hit some plot next chapter.

RESPOND TIME YAY!

Tigerwolf204: My brain originally did not want any telepathic communication between the sparkbonded, but after some muling over it, well.. It gave in. XD Your suggestion did help; my brain absorbed some of it, it did!

IthicaJ: My brain was quite happy with your suggestions. Tho, it doesn't seem fond of Starscream, for some reason. *shrug*

SusieSaysNo: THAT'S the line that did it for you? THAT was it? XD Seriously? *falls over*

Lucy Sameragui: ..You squished me with a giant cookie. O_O *squish*

Little Miss Molly: Flashback, COMING UP! Bwaha!

------------------------

_So, am I still waiting_

_For this world to stop hating?_

_Can't find a good reason_

_Can't find hope to believe in_

_Drop dead_

_A bullet to my head_

_Your words are like a gun in hand_

_You can't change the state of the nation_

_We just need some motivation_

-- 'Still Waiting', Sum 41

**Streamline: Chapter 10**

------------------------

_He had never heard Bumblebee cry before._

_Granted, he had heard yelps of pain, screams of variable length and whimpers; those things simply happened on the battlefield. Pain was something that simply happened in times of war, more so considering who Bumblebee was; more than once, the yellow Autobot had called in to his comm screaming obscenities and calling for help. Weeping, though, was something entirely different._

_"Primus..!" He could remember his own cry through the tentative processor-to-processor link that had been forged; he doubted he would ever forget the horror he had experienced at that moment._

_"I wasn't exaggerating about the interface thing." The annoyed response had hurt; it was a metaphysical blade through his own spark. If he had known, he never would have told him..!_

_His emotions were getting in the way; the processor over matter technique was wavering with his own lack of concentration. Focus seemed out of reach with what he was seeing through his friends' optics; still, he had to know for certain before the connection cut off._

_Interfacing and bonding were two different things; if one was done and not the other, there was still hope._

_"Primus.." Why couldn't he bring his own thoughts together? "Bumblebee.. Primus, did Megatron..?" He couldn't even say the word, the shock was so deep._

_"Yeah.." Hope crashed with the almost physical crescendo of broken dreams. "The night after I got here. I tried to fight him off..!"_

_That was when he heard the weeping; such a strong, deep and penetrating despair that it occurred both in Bumblebee's voice and spark. It echoed in his own processor, an accusatory jab at poorly stated suggestions._

_"Prowl, I don't think I can get out of here on my own! Everything I try to do doesn't work!"_

_He couldn't keep this up. He simply didn't have it within himself to continue the telepathy; he felt ready to purge. "Bumblebee.. We'll.. We'll get you out!" He had to say it, his friend had to know they were trying to find him! "We'll find that boat. I'll try to contact you again, but I swear to Primus that we'll find you..!"_

_"Prowl..?" That was the last he heard before the link severed._

_Blue optics snapped online with a horrified gasp and shaking servos; Prowl sat, cross-legged in the traditional meditation pose for several cycles, taking in deep intakes. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to get himself under control, to bring back every lesson he had learned in Yoketron's tutelage, nothing seemed to work._

_With a sudden need to purge his systems of the deep sick feeling, Prowl got to his feet and ran for the first basin he could spot; an empty planter lay by the door -- a small swimming pool in reality, but nowhere near large enough for a Cybertronian -- and he made a mad dash for it. He barely got there in time to empty his fuel tank of everything it held._

_It was nothing more than poor luck that the closed door didn't prevent sound from escaping; a knock came soon after. "Prowl? Kid, you okay?" Ratchet._

_The ninja didn't answer; he couldn't, dry heaving the way he was. After several seconds of silence, the door opened._

_"Prowl..!" Ratchet sputtered in surprise. Worry crossed the old medics' face. "Kid, you got a virus in your system..? Let me do a quick systems check.."_

_"I'm fine..!" Still, Prowl heaved. "I managed to contact Bumblebee.."_

_"What?!" The field medic sputtered again. The other bots' vomiting now served to set in an even deeper worry and fear. "How did you..? How bad is the kid..?!"_

_"Get the others." Prowl took in deep intakes, standing a little shakily. "I don't think I'll be able to say it twice." He wondered if he could even say it once._

_Not twenty minutes later and all the Autobots were set around a table in the abandoned warehouse that served as their base. It was still only late afternoon and the call to pull whoever was on patrol off of it came as a complete surprise; it had taken Bulkhead an impressive ten minutes to get halfway across Detroit._

_By the time they were all situated, Prowl had his head supported almost entirely by his own hand on his forehead, appearing more than a little ill. The sight of it caused widespread concern._

_"Prowl?" Optimus Prime stared at the ninja in wide-optic worry for a moment before sitting down._

_The mech in question took in a deep intake. "I got in contact with Bumblebee."_

_"What?!" Bulkhead boggled. "How?!"_

_"Processor over matter." Prowl shrugged a little. "..I didn't think it would work, either. I had brief telepathic communication with him and managed to record some images to my processor that may help us find him."_

_"Thank Primus for that..!" Optimus sat back with incredulity and joy. "Anything is better than nothing!"_

_"There's more." Prowl frowned deeply, looking to the table; he had no real idea how to verbalize what needed to be said. _

_"He's hurt bad, isn't he?" Ratchet frowned knowingly; the ninja wouldn't be acting this way otherwise. "How bad?"_

_Prowl shut off pain-filled optics behind his visor. "There is no good way to say this." A deep, shaky intake came and went. "Megatron's bonded with Bumblebee."_

_"__**What**__?!" Bulkhead shot to his pedes._

_"Are you sure?!" Ratchet gaped in shock and horror._

_Prowl nodded slightly, still not looking up in the attempt to hide his guilt. "I saw it myself." The math had added itself up and he hated the sum. "Bumblebee told me it happened the night after he called us."_

_"Dear Primus.." Optimus whispered low, barely able to breathe._

_"I shouldn't have told him to preserve his strength.." Prowl continued to look away, his own words haunting him. "Primus, I shouldn't have said that.."_

------------------------

Prowl woke from recharge with a gasp, sitting up sharply. The memory haunted him still, despite now being in the waking world; guilt coursed through his systems, processor angry at itself. They all knew full and well that the only person truly to blame for everything that had happened was Megatron himself; yet, he couldn't help the thoroughly horrible feeling that had stuck firm these past weeks.

He had never properly asked for Bumblebee's forgiveness; it hadn't been right of him to do so. He was, after all, guilty of ordering his friend to allow Megatron to bond with him; he was entirely to blame for a damaged life and doomed spark.

It did not help that he had been able to see the damage; Bumblebee would never be the same again, and the quiet sadness his friend had shown when he had seen him last said as much. Prowl had seen the extinguished joy that had once been a constant in his friends' bright optics; he had seen his friends' processor crack further after learning the yellow mech was actually carrying.

There was a sudden temptation to telepathically contact his friend again; a glance at his chronometer told him otherwise. The Elite Guard ship was likely running on Cybertronian standard time; Bumblebee would likely be asleep at this hour.

The ninja wasn't used to this deep, confused worry; he didn't know what to do with himself or how to act normal again. If he was feeling this terribly, he could only imagine how badly Bumblebee was taking it all.

"Primus, forgive me.." Prowl shook his head, looking down.

------------------------

Unconsciousness swam about in a mingled array of confusion and curiosity; perhaps it was simply because memory wasn't working properly, but Blurr couldn't quite find it within himself to worry why he was both asleep yet oddly aware at the same time. He couldn't quite recall when he had fallen asleep; all he knew was that he was. The last thing he recalled, at the moment, was looking out the window and talking with Bumblebee.

What felt like a soft tapping was at the edge of his processor. It was an almost gentle rapping, like the knock on a door; the speedster didn't answer it, having enough sense to be afraid.

After all, he remembered that he was being hunted, recalled the large bounty; danger lurked around every corner, these days. Paranoia served to protect, now.

The tapping, however, did not leave. In fact, it increased, getting louder and louder as the cycles went on. It wasn't long before it felt as if a jackhammer was pounding directly atop his skull; Blurr whimpered and tried to block it out.

It only got worse; it felt as if his mind was tearing apart. In a sudden fit of desperation, he allowed the metaphysical door to open, if only to make the noise stop.

_"Well, it's about time."_ A slightly amused tone in a dreadfully familiar voice.

_"Nonononononono.."_ Blurr tried to 'shove' the presence in his processor back out the door; his attempts were in vain.

_"It's all right, Special Agent Blurr.."_ It sounded so much like Longarm Prime that he could have wept. _"I'm only here to talk."_

_"Idon'twanttohearanythingyouhavetosay!" _Blurr tried to be angry, truly he did, but found only terror at his disposal. _"Getoutofmyprocessor! Getoutgetoutgetout!"_

Shockwave didn't budge. _"Aren't you tired of running? Aren't you tired of being afraid? Come to me, and I promise you'll be treated well."_

Blurr couldn't believe what he was hearing. _"GetOUTofmyHEAD!"_

_"I only want what's best for the sparkling."_

The reminder of what was growing in his chassis only caused an even deeper, more frenzied despair. _"Youruinedmylife! YoudestroyedeverythingIeverdid! GetoutoutoutoutOUT!"_

_"All right. I will, for now."_ Such a calm, friendly tone. Shockwave chuckled in Longarm's voice, as if a gentle creator to their child. _"But remember my words, little one."_

When the intrusive presence finally left his mind, Blurr's optics snapped alight. He sat up hurriedly in a room he didn't recognize; unsure where he was and the conversation still echoing in his spark, panic gripped him and he started to scream.

"What the --" Someone yelled. "Slaggit, Blurr, calm down! We're okay!"

Blurr looked around rapidly; he stopped shrieking when he spotted a familiar yellow form on a nearby chair. "Bumblebee?!"

Bumblebee rubbed the back of his head, wincing a little. "We're in the Elite Guard's medical bay." That would explain why the room was large and unfamiliar. "Lockdown's offline."

Blurr could only stare in dumb shock for a few cycles, slowly recalling the earlier fight. Memory came a little too slow for his usual quick mind. "..Howtheslagdid..?"

"Sari says she shot a laser at him." Bumblebee smirked a little, visibly proud of his best friend. "Out of her optics."

The blue speedster boggled at that; it wasn't a completely unheard of talent, but it was extraordinarily rare. "Iseverybodyallright?"

Bumblebee frowned at that. "Sentinel's got a hole in his head, but he was awake and swearing before, and Jazz said he'll be okay. Jetstorm and Jetfire are both in emergency stasis lock, though. Something about damage to their spark casings."

Blurr winced at that. "..Areweonourown?"

It took a moment to dissect what Blurr had said. "Jazz is up and running, but he's working on Jetfire and Jetstorm. As far as I know, it's us, Sari and Jazz until we get to Cybertron." A small grin. "On the other hand, Lockdown _is_ offline, and we even got his ship and everything in it." He looked a little too happy about that.

Blurr frowned in slight confusion, unsure why his yellow friend was delighted. "Whatdoesthatmeanexactly?"

Bumblebee continued to grin. "Weapons, medical supplies.. If another bounty hunter tries to attack us, we have slagload of guns to kick aft!" He almost seemed like his old self for a moment.

"Uhm.. Didn'tweallreadyhaveaslagloadofguns?" Blurr blinked. At the sharp look from Bumblebee, he couldn't help a small smirk. "You'rejusthappytohavealotofguns, huh?"

Bumblebee sat back and folded his arms -- by the chair next to his own, it seems he had been in emergency recharge on the makeshift berth. "I like making Decepticreeps blow up. With their own weapons, it's just more awesome."

The smirk broadened for a moment on Blurr's face, but quickly faded. "..Shockwavewasinmyhead."

Bumblebee sat up in some alarm; after a moment, he frowned sadly. "Megatron was in my head, too. I let him in once by accident, and then I refused to let him in. They're trying to find out where we are."

"Whatdowedo?" Blurr whimpered.

"Don't let him in. It gives a pit of a processor ache, but, slag, I managed to do it." Bumblebee shrugged helplessly. He looked downwards for a moment, expression turning bitter. "I'd rather offline myself than go back to those fraggers."

Blurr looked at his yellow friend in wonder, taking in what had been said. He wondered how the other Autobot managed to keep from breaking down the way he had. The blue mech looked to his lap in subdued silence, unsure what to say.

Everything had changed so much in such a short span of time; he didn't know what to do or what would happen next; the unclear future brought only more depressed uncertainty.

------------------------

Jazz had claimed it would take roughly eight solar cycles to get to Cybertron; Earth had simply been so far off and they were too wary to attempt taking a space bridge. With the stolen weapons and supplies from Lockdown's ship -- not to mention the ship itself, being towed along for the ride --, at least they didn't have to worry about running out of anything. They even now had a surplus of energon.

Three solar cycles in to the journey proved thankfully quiet. With Lockdown's stolen cloaking device, they managed to hide both ships with little difficulty; a test even proved sensors couldn't pick them up.

That evening, Blurr wandered around the ship with a hand on his chassis, hissing in slight pain; they had been told their sparks might ache with the growing sparklings inside, so he wasn't too concerned. Still, he looked for the only Elite Guard who he felt would know what to do; it didn't take long to find Jazz in the ships' medical bay, checking on the recharging twins.

"Jazz?" Blurr blinked at the two mechs; they both had survived the surgeries to repair the damage the chainsaw had done, but hadn't been allowed to move around just yet.

"Hmm?" Jazz turned in surprise, frowning in concern. "Blurr? You okay, man?"

"Ithurtsaroundmysparkalittle." Blurr frowned, only a little worried, calmed by expectation.

"Already?" Jazz frowned a little. "The sparkling shouldn't've grown that big, yet. Take a seat someplace, okay?"

The blue mech frowned deeply, disturbed by the comment; he didn't know much about how sparklings grew -- or about medical things in general, really --, but he had a feeling it probably wasn't a good thing if Jazz was worried.

Jazz picked up the pen-like scanner from a nearby stand; he gazed to the small blue mech in concern. "You know how this goes."

Blurr winced a little; he hated opening up his spark chamber, unable to help the memory of having it torn off from returning every time he did. It took a few seconds to get it open, servos shaking.

The monochrome Elite Guard walked towards the open spark chamber, kneeling to get a better look. He ended up not having to turn on the scanning device, blinking slightly at what he saw with his naked optics. A relieved intake was let out. "Slag, for a moment there, I was worried."

"It'snothingbad?" Blurr blinked widely, relaxing.

"Looks like you'll have to get a larger chassis soon, but nothin' serious, man." Jazz was relieved enough to grin a little, standing back up. "Though, uhm.. You know how twins are made, right?"

"Isn'tthatwhenasparklingsplits --" Blurr blinked, stunned. He closed up his spark chamber slowly. "..Oh." He had not expected this, but he somehow didn't care. He was already carrying; one extra didn't do much, really. "Dowehavetheequipmenttoupgrade..?"

"Not for a real job." Jazz frowned a little in thought. "Temporary patches, but you're going to be uncomfortable 'til we get to Cybertron."

"Slag." Blurr sighed; this was the last thing he needed, then. "Primusmusthateme."

------------------------

_What have we done?_

_With a war that can't be won?_

_This can't be real_

_'Cause I don't know what to feel_

_So, tell me, what would you say?_

_I'd say it's time;_

_Too late_

-- 'Still Waiting', Sum 41


	11. Chapter 11

Author notes: I don't know what happened. My brain mused this over for THREE DAYS, had a particular way it wanted to go, and when I sat down to write it.. It went a different direction. Ah well.

The flashback scene, tho, had been in my head for a good couple of weeks now. Whee!

.. I still have no idea where this thing is going. My brain's still indecisive.

... RESPOND TIME, YAY!

Black Dragon Queen: Who knows what Shockwave is thinking. Maybe the guy is finally letting the squelched darkness held back for so long due to the spying gig get the better of him. *shrug* And since Sari is in her teenage form, no key. Just.. Badass Sari. XD

Evil. E. Evil: I think the 'fast updates and abandon' thing is because people will get ideas, get down everything their brain gives them, and then stop when there's no more idea flow. That DID happen to me about two chapters back; it's why I asked for suggestions; I think in images, not words, like most people; anything could set me in to a zone-out with a visual episode of ideas. It's.. Actually really neat.

Lucy Sameragui: EEE, Blurr plushie! 8D ... Funny thing is, I'm a seamstress and dollmaker; I COULD, theoretically, make my own Blurr plushie. *ponderponder*

-------------------------------

_We're leaving together_

_But, still, it's farewell_

_And maybe we'll come back_

_To earth, who can tell?_

_I guess there is no one to blame_

_We're leaving ground_

_Will things ever be the same again?_

-- 'The Final Countdown', Europe

**Streamline: Chapter Eleven**

-------------------------------

_If there was one thing Bumblebee claimed for himself, it was that he was clever. Well, 'brilliant' would have been his precise term, but he had always considered himself nothing less than creative when a tricky job had to be done. Once he had his processor set on a task, he would get it done no matter how many attempts or failures it took._

_Desperation did nothing to hamper ingenuity; four days in to his captivity and he had already attempted quite a number of different tactics. Taking a broken energon cube and using it as a blade had failed. Deactivated stingers proved unable to cut apart the chain or to use as a proper weapon. Attempting to starve himself in to offline had only ended up with being force-fed before the first day was done; that one was considered a rather abysmal failure._

_On the fifth day, he had attempted to transform. The idea had been to pull the chain loose with the force of four burning tires. He hadn't taken in to account that the collar itself would get in the way; the metal slid only halfway through the sequence and promptly got stuck. Half in one mode and half in the other, Bumblebee found he could barely see or move and was in quite a bit of pain from mechanisms that attempted to shift his form one way or the other._

_Well, that failed even worse than he imagined. For several hours, the yellow mech hissed in pain and waited, hoping it wasn't Megatron that found him like this; he had absolutely no idea how the Decepticon lord would react to this particular escape attempt and didn't want to find out._

_He lucked out, so to speak; in the early afternoon, Lugnut calmly walked in carrying a single energon cube. The monstrous Decepticon stopped in surprise at the sight that greeted him, slowly set the cube aside, and stomped over towards the deformed captive._

_"How long have you been stuck like this?" Lugnut sounded thoroughly baffled and amazed, blinking all five of his eyes several times._

_Bumblebee said nothing; he couldn't in his current state. The best he could manage was a soft crackle of static that sounded vaguely like a swear._

_Lugnut let out a deep sigh and grabbed hold of the twitching mess of parts. Bumblebee wasn't entirely certain what the large Decepticon did; all he knew was that a three-fingered hand grabbed something and pulled sharply. Next thing he knew, he was back in bipedal form and letting out a deep intake he hadn't realized was being held._

_"Lord Megatron would not be pleased if he found you like that." Lugnut handed over the energon cube; Bumblebee took it angrily._

_"What do you care?" Bumblebee growled, stretching his limbs; lack of vital fluid flow from the stuck transformation left his body tingling uncomfortably._

_"You are Lord Megatron's consort." Lugnut seemed to frown, although he couldn't be certain. "It is an honor."_

_The captive Autobot only growled, gulping energon; his abductors weren't even trying to slip the drugs in, anymore. He could actually taste the laced chemicals. "Go away."_

_The frown deepened on Lugnut's face. The large Decepticon, however, did back out to leave; he almost seemed hesitant to do so, what looked suspiciously like concern crossing his face as the door slid shut behind him._

-------------------------------

Despite the little recharge obtained during his fortnight of captivity and the recent attempts by the Decepticon lord to contact him, Bumblebee still somehow managed to have time for nightmares. Sensory echoes triggered by everything and nothing left the Autobot with more than a few recharge sessions cut short by his own CPU; it annoyed and infuriated him, unable to find solace even from himself.

It was just another one of those shortened rests that had him up as early as he was. This was becoming a habit; he would wander down the halls of the Elite Guard ship hours before most of the others would be awake. Sentinel Prime, Jazz, Sari and even the twins wouldn't be up for quite some time, yet. There was only one other who was ever awake this early and the yellow mech was completely unsurprised to find him in the hall, sitting against a wall and twiddling something in his fingers.

"Hey, Blurr." Bumblebee sighed, taking a seat on the floor next to him. "Couldn't sleep?"

"WhendoIever?" The speedster smirked bitterly, still staring at the small token in his hands.

Bumblebee peered at the small glittering item held in blue hands; his optics widened in recognition. "Is that..?"

"Yeah." Blurr simply held the small emblem; his Elite Guard badge. His name was even engraved on it. "Feelskindofuselessnowthough."

Bumblebee frowned at that, gazing at the broach with some sadness; it had been a dream of his to obtain one for himself, his entire short life wanting nothing more than to be in the Elite Guard. A bitter understanding came over him; things had changed. "The Guard isn't going to let you do whatever it is you do, now, huh?"

"IwantedtobeaPrime, oneday." Blurr's feet twitched, but he didn't get up to run. He had barely run at all, despite a small jogging track being inbuilt in to the ship. His tone, for the moment, was soft and subdued. "Idon'tknowwhattheslagisgoingtohappennow."

"I don't, either." His yellow companion sighed, sitting back against the wall. "I don't think anyone does. Slag it all, if I make it through the next stellar cycle in one piece.."

"I'mhavingtwins." Blurr still didn't look away from his badge.

Bumblebee blinked in surprise; he hadn't been expecting that. He went over the quickly stated words for several seconds, slowly looking to the blue mech at his side. "Well.. Slag."

"Idon'twantsparklings." Blurr's voice rose ever so slightly. "Idon'twantthistohappen. I'mtooyoungtobeacreator..!"

Bumblebee winced slightly; he had been trying not to think about his own sparkling at all, unsure how he felt towards it. He set a hand on a cerulean shoulder, frowning deeply. "Hey, it's.. I bet there's things we can do. We can.. We can give them away, or something.."

"TheDecepticonsaregoingtohuntthemdownanyway, andthere'llbenothingwecandoandit'sallgoingtogotoslag!" Blurr rambled so quickly, Bumblebee found it almost impossible to keep up. "Idon'twantthistohappenIdon'twantthisIjustwanttogohome!"

"Blurr!" Bumblebee sputtered in alarm, shaking the blue mech slightly. "Frag, snap out of it!"

"Idon'twantsparklings!" Blurr wailed, this time. "Iwanttogohome!"

"So do I." The response came before he could think. "So do I, but.." Bumblebee sputtered a moment, trying to collect his frazzled thoughts; he wasn't entirely certain what was going on with his blue friend. "..But I don't think there's anything we _can _do, right now, but keep going..!"

"Andwherearewegoing?! Gowhere?!" Blurr clutched his Elite Guard badge in a hand and curled up slightly.

Bumblebee slumped back, looking away. "I don't know. Primus, slag it all, I don't know.." He stood abruptly, turned, and punched the wall; a servo came back scuffed and bruised. The yellow mech took in a deep intake and glared at the wall. "..I just want to get to Cybertron."

Blurr only whimpered and curled up, shaking and whimpering, haunted.

-------------------------------

They were less than two days away from Cybertron. The glittering star that represented safety and protection could even be seen from the short distance they were at, a large sparkle amidst the dark vacuum of space and smaller brethren.

No attack or threat had come along since they commandeered Lockdown's craft; the stolen shields were doing their job well. Spirits lifted even with the bed-bound twins; two solar cycles and then it would be over. No terror would plague them in Autobot city stronghold that was Iacon.

It wasn't even midday when a small alarm blared in the command center. Sentinel Prime -- metal bandage still wrapped around his head -- stared at the small klaxon with some surprise. "The slag..?" Incoming craft?

Jazz wasn't there at the time, so the Prime flicked several extra screens on himself in search of what the ship was claiming. When nothing came up, a deep frown crossed his face; the ship wasn't ordinarily wrong. The automated klaxons were still blaring; with a wary feeling at the back of his processor, he took it upon himself to take hold of the pilot's seat and tilt the ship in a slightly different direction.

The beeping stopped abruptly when the ship turned; out of the corner of blue optics, Sentinel noticed something odd on a screen. He turned sharply to stare; a flicker of light went through the space where the Elite Guard craft would have been if he hadn't changed course. A cloaking device.

_"S.P.!"_ The comm sprang to life with such alarm that Sentinel actually jumped.

"What is it, Jazz?!" He hissed in to his own comm, worry driving up his annoyance.

_"We got a problem back here!" _Jazz sounded worried.

_"He's close!"_ Bumblebee's voice echoed with terror from the background of the other side of the comm. _"I can feel the slagger, he's really, really close!"_

Sentinel put two and two together; the other cloaked ship, this close to Cybertron, was none other than the Decepticon flagship. A sudden recollection made him swear; Lockdown's ship was still being towed behind their own and had no operating pilot to shift it's trajectory. It was cloaked, but that didn't stop it from being _there_; the Nemesis would almost certainly smack right in to it any moment.

"Son of a glitch, evasive action! Decepticons are about to spot us!" Lockdown's ship was let go; with any luck, the Decepticons would be so distracted by smacking in to the empty ship, it would give them the precious minutes to get away.

Sentinel quickly tapped in to the ship's communication system. "This is Sentinel Prime aboard the Axion, we are under Decepticon pursuit! I repeat, we're being followed by Decepticons!"

-------------------------------

_We're heading for Venus_

_And, still, we stand tall_

_'Cause maybe they've seen us_

_And welcome us all, yeah_

_With so many light years to go_

_And things to be found_

_I'm sure that we'll all miss her, so_

_It's the final countdown_

-- 'The Final Countdown', Europe

-------------------------------

Author notes: I'm so proud of myself for the song choice. XD ... Also, I'm still taking suggestions. Keep sending 'em. I have NO IDEA what's going to happen next chapter.

Also, I have no idea if the Elite Guard craft had it's own name. I wonder if anyone will figure out where the name I gave it came from..


	12. Chapter 12

Author notes: So. Funny story. I was thinking about how I wanted this to go for three days, musing over possibilities. My brain wasn't sure what it wanted. A particular layout came to mind that I went over for THREE DAYS, and then, the night before writing this.. My brain changed it's mind. So, here, have this thing that I saw in my dreams last night.

RESPOND TIME, YAY!

To EVERYONE who commented on Lugnut: Considering what a sparkbonded pair can feel what the other feels, I figured Lugnut would treat Bumblebee as a sort of extension of his beloved lord and master; if Bumblebee felt pain, Megatron would, in a way, feel it as well. I just went with that mentality. I also sort of saw him as more intelligent than he lets on. I mean.. Who IS the Decepticon medic? XD

DreamStoryWeaver: I'm going to assume you meant Lugnut and not Lockdown; if so, see above. If not.. I've no idea.

Wirewolf: See, I don't think Sari IS the Allspark. Didn't she just zap the rest of it's power to upgrade? I assumed she was just a Cybertronian sparkling.

Lucy Sameragui: You got it on the nose. Axion is, in fact, inspired by the Axalon of Beast Wars.

Black Dragon Queen: ..Where did you go? :(

---------------------------------

_Life is but a dream_

_Drifting on a stream, a stream_

_Consciously it seems_

_All of what remains_

_Ego brain_

_Man made shame;_

_Shame, love after it rains_

_You see, my pain is real_

_Watch my world dissolve_

_And pretend that none of us saw the fall_

-- "Ego Brain", System of a Down

**Streamline: Chapter Twelve**

---------------------------------

In hindsight, Sentinel Prime thought bitterly, he really should have opted for a larger crew. At the time, he had made the decision simply because he hadn't wanted to deal with the responsibilities and tribulations a larger crew would demand. The mission had been so simple, so small and, to him at the time, simply lacked reason to include more people; now that they actually had a conflict, he wished he hadn't made the decision he had.

He was still in command of the situation, although for how long remained to be seen; the cloaked Decepticon warship hadn't spotted them just yet, so things had to be done quickly before they did.

"Jazz, get everyone up here, even Jetfire and Jetstorm!" Both twins were still recovering from their wounds; they had hoped to get to Cybertron for proper repairs. "I disengaged the bounty hunters' ship, but I need people up here!"

Oh, it hurt to admit that he needed a crew; his pride was swallowed simply out of fear.

_"Got it, S.P.!"_ Sentinel would never admit that he trusted Jazz more than any other bot; the cyber-ninja had saved his aft more than a few times.

With that much out of the way, the Prime tapped at the Elite Guard's extended comm. "Someone out there tell me I got backup coming!"

A flash of light caught his optics; a glance at a screen showed that the Nemesis had ran right in to Lockdown's ship. Both decloaked at once; the larger warship fired on the other, ravaging it apart in an impressive, terrifying display of sheer power.

_"Woah."_ Someone he didn't recognize responded on the other end of the extended comm; seems they had seen the explosion. _"Sentinel Prime, the nearest ships to your own are roughly one and one half breems from your current position."_ Whoever it was at least tried to be professional. _"Can you maintain your trajectory at this time?"_

Sentinel glanced at the screen again, barely noticing Jazz leading the group of young mechs behind him. "I'm operating on a third the standard crew size with _damaged precious cargo_." He hated codewords, but the more militaristic and respectful his behavior was, the faster help would arrive; his atypical yelling, he assumed, would only delay much needed assistance.

_"Noted. The ships closest to your positions will be advised. Command out."_

Sentinel let out an intake, looking to the group behind him; Jetfire and Jetstorm had been helped to their usual positions, but without the mobility they ordinarily had, their help was limited at best. The large blue Autobot looked to the terrified special agent and the grim-looking maintenance bot; he had never seen such an expression on Bumblebee's face before and it caused a moments' pause. Sari hovered in the air; for a short moment, he wondered when she had grown jets. "Primus, you three better know how to use our systems!"

"Sentinel Prime sir!" Jetfire tried to turn and winced; his side was barely holding together under the medical bindings. "Decepticons are being in chasings!"

"Slaggit!" Sentinel rushed back to the helmsman's controls, piloting the craft himself. "Buckle up, people!"

Bumblebee, Blurr and Sari exchanged a glance; the special agent let out a whimper before zipping to an empty console. Sari hovered by her yellow friends' side before they both sat at another, the transorganic standing on a yellow shoulder.

It wasn't entirely clear how the Nemesis had spotted their craft; they were, after all, still cloaked. However, it was obvious that they knew exactly where they were, the immense warship flying right for their steadily fleeing position.

"We got bogeys!" Jazz tapped at buttons and controls, firing Elite Guard weaponry on the incoming ships. "Holy.. There's ships coming _out_ of the Decepticon ship bigger than we are!"

"We're going as fast as we can, Jazz!" Sentinel growled. "Less than a breem until backup gets here!"

A small rumble went through the craft. Jetstorm let out a small, strangled yelp. "..We were just in losing of back of ship. And also cloakings."

"Turbinesfourandfivearedown!" Blurr wailed, reading the flashing red texts and readouts on his screen. "Twoandsixareathalfpower! Ohslagohslagohslag.."

"Nobody panic, slaggit!" Sentinel Prime hissed, gripping his controls; he was perilously close to the same fear gripping the rest of his makeshift crew. They had slowed down incredibly with the well-aimed hits and continued damage they were receiving; despite returning fire with everything at their disposal, they were still massively outnumbered and outmatched.

A sudden hiss emerged from Bumblebee as he clutched his chest with a hand; at a concerned look from Sari, he twitched with the anger that barely covered his own mounting fears. "The fragger's real happy."

"Well, good for him!" Sentinel snarled; he glared at the screens for a moment; then, a wide grin crossed his face. "Yes! Finally!"

Reinforcements had finally arrived; half a dozen similarly sized ships to their own came from different directions, firing on enemy craft and warship alike. The Elite Guard symbol on the sides of each craft proclaimed their allegiance as they started a firefight with the swarm of Decepticon ships.

_"This is Nova Prime aboard the Nexus, what's your status?"_

"About time you showed up!" Sentinel grinned; he had never been so glad to hear another Prime in his life. "Half our turbines are either down and out or damaged and part of the ship's gone."

"_We've also received your earlier memo. We're on our way to escort --"_

A short, worried pause passed at the unexpected stop. Sentinel frowned deeply. "Nova? Come in, Nova Prime!"

A large flash went off on one screen; the Nexus blew apart with a large ball of fire and explosive debris, tendrils of flame briefly reaching through the vacuum of space before extinguishing.

Several nano-kliks passed in stunned silence.

"..Turbineonejustshutoff." Blurr whimpered. "Twoandsixarealmostgone."

"Emergency shuttle --" Jazz sputtered.

"Is gone, Jazz sir." Jetstorm whimpered. "Back of ship and escape shuttle are gone."

"So are being emergency stasis pods." Jetfire half whispered as he looked slowly to their Prime. "What are we in doing?"

---------------------------------

They had gotten so close.

The glittering beacon that was Cybertron still shone in the distance, an almost mocking witness to the destruction that lay so close to what would have been haven.

The dark whispers from the core of his spark did nothing to help the horror-driven disbelief; Megatron was close enough that he could almost hear the Decepticon lord despite not being in the depths of recharge. The joyful anticipation that came from the deep, dark echoes sent a shudder through his frame.

A soft rumble went through the ship, bringing the situation at hand back in to focus.

"What the slag was that?!" Sentinel Prime yelled in fury, but the fear in his optics was unmistakeable.

"Tractor beams!" Jazz sputtered in terror, looking to the screens. "One of ours and a Decepticon ship's both got a lock on us! They're gonna pull us apart!"

A dark, ominous creaking came from the ship itself; metal began to warp and push with the opposite forces trying to bring them to either side. A seam tore in the ceiling; steam and sparks rained down. Blurr yelped and dashed aside to avoid injury.

"Oh my god.." Sari's voice at his audio receptor caused a sudden panic. He ran to Sentinel, quickly picking up his dear friend in his hands; he knew what had to be done.

"Sari, stay with Sentinel!"

"What?!" Sari and Sentinel both sputtered in surprise.

"The ship's about to blow and we're about to get scattered!" Bumblebee gestured to the metal above them that continued to break apart. "They're going to come after me! You're safer with Sentinel!"

A loud roar of metal being torn from itself came from behind them; the entire back of their ship's command central tore apart. The deep vacuum of space pulled at the sudden hole in the hull; the crew clung to anything they could to keep from being pulled through.

A small transorganic clung to the Prime's shoulder in terror, gasping at the gaping, growing chasm. A prayer came to mind; terrified, she couldn't help but mumble it under her breath. "..Walk through the valley of the shadow of death.."

The ship tore apart.

The dual, dueling tractor beams that had gripped their ship continued their ministrations until there was nothing left of the Elite Guard vessel; the crew was sent flying through the darkness of space and furious firefight around them. Thankfully, Cybertronians had no need to actually breathe; unfortunately, they were all sent in different directions. Sound stopped entirely; there was no air in space to pass along the waves.

Bumblebee silently thanked Primus that he had thought to pass Sari to another; at once, he could spot no less than two Decepticon vessels flying in his direction.

He swore loudly, even if no one could hear it. He wished he had the booster jets Sari's father had made, relying solely on the lack of gravity and subtle pushes from his own stingers to move him along. If an Autobot ship could pick him up, then he had a chance.

He's flown through space once; he could do it again.

From the corner of his optics, he spotted a friendly ship pick up one of his scattered friends in a brightly colored tractor beam; from the distance they had been spread, he couldn't tell who it was, but at least _some_one was safe.

In space, direction meant nothing; there was no up and there was no down. Ships twirled and spun, an endless sea of destruction and fire as soundless laser broke other crafts apart and extinguished lives. The great warship hung ominously, protected by the fleet that came from within it.

Bumblebee noticed a familiar ship 'beneath' him; he pushed against a floating piece of what was once Sentinel Prime's ship, stingers crackling with enough electricity to give his systems an extra charge to move along. The sudden pull at his backside -- as well as a bright blue glow -- told him that the Autobot ship had spotted him and had begun to pull him in.

He managed to turn to look at the ship, grinning widely; he moved towards the ship a little too slow for his liking -- the technology behind tractor beams hadn't been perfected just yet --, but the bottom of the ship had opened in anticipation. He could actually see a few of the crew members inside.

He never made it there, nor did he see the Decepticon ship before it was too late. Neither had the Autobot craft; not until the dark, purple ship crashed right in to the white Autobot vessel. It wasn't a hard enough impact to damage either ship much, but it did stop the tractor beam's pull and caused a crewmate to fall from the opening in the ship, pulled by the vacuum of space. The Decepticon's tractor beam erupted, capturing the fallen crewmate.

Then, a firefight erupted between the two crafts. Bumblebee fired his stingers at the Decepticon craft; it didn't damage the ship, but it did push him away from it.

This time, he flew towards the glittering star that was Cybertron in the distance. It would take him months to get there on his own power, but his sole intention was to get far enough from the fight for a friendly craft to pick him up; the further he was from the ongoing fight, the better.

He knew Megatron was tracking him. A hope was clung to that, perhaps, it wouldn't matter.

For a moment, it appeared to work; the firefight became ever so slightly more distant. An Autobot craft came from behind him, from the fight, in his direction; a small smile crossed his face.

Unfortunately, so did a Decepticon ship. The purple craft fired on the other; a turbine blew apart and the ship slowed just enough for the attacker to bypass it, flying above and over. The red shine of it's own tractor beam erupted, grabbing for a frightened yellow mech.

Bumblebee fired his stingers at the ship despite knowing it would do nothing. The incapacitated Autobot vessel did nothing; likely, it couldn't, not firing it's weaponry even as more Decepticon crafts came over it like buzzards to a corpse.

Stingers were paused and charged; as the bottom of the Decepticon ship opened up to bring him in, he fired inside with everything he had.

---------------------------------

Sentinel Prime couldn't believe he was still online.

The ship had been broken apart. He had been tossed through space. Decepticon ships came right for his barely protected form. To top it off, a small semi-organic girl had clutched to him for protection the entire time.

Somehow, he was still online. It was nothing short of a miracle.

"Can you call the other ships?!" He demanded, unable to keep the shock of it all off his faceplate as he looked to the Autobot crew that had saved his life. "My men are still out there!"

"Give me a nano-klik!" A blue and yellow mech he didn't recognize tapped at a console; the ship was identical to the one he had piloted and he recognized it as the communications center. A light shone green after several seconds. "This is Nautilus aboard the Tranquility, requesting information about the rest of the Axion's crew. Tranquility out."

_"This is Hot Shot aboard the Requiem. Special agent Jazz is aboard our vessel. Requiem out."_

_"Hey, Cryotek on the Serenity here. Special agent Blurr is on our ship and has minor injuries. We're heading for Iacon for medical care. Serenity out."_

Silence came for several long seconds; Sentinel frowned deeply. "Three of my men are still missing."

The blue and yellow mech frowned in return. "Three are still unaccounted for. Advise. Tranquility out."

_"Son of a..!"_ A mech on one of the other ships yelped, surprising at least the mech at the console. _"This is Tracer on the Nebulan, we've just received information that the special target known as Bumblebee was captured by the Decepticons along with the Dreamwave and all it's crew. Nebulan slagging out."_

"No!" Sari cried, covering her face with her hands. "No, no, no..!"

Sentinel winced, but still frowned, waiting; no one on any of the other ships called in with any further information. "..Where the slag are Jetfire and Jetstorm..?"

---------------------------------

_I am just a man_

_Fighting other men_

_For land, for land_

_While I turn to sand,_

_In spite of the pain_

_Ego brain_

_Man made shame;_

_Shame, love after it rains_

_You see my pain is real,_

_Watch my world dissolve_

_And pretend that none of us see the fall_

_As I turn to sand,_

_You took me by the hand_

_And declared that:_

_Love prevails over all_

-- "Ego Brain", System of a Down

---------------------------------

Author Notes: Yeah, my brain hasn't decided where the twins went off to. Stupid thing can't make up it's mind..

Also, those random bots at the end? Yeah, consider them NPCs. I found random bots by clicking the 'random page' button on the Transformers wikia, all except for Hot Shot. The ship names are mostly made up. Odds are, we'll never see them again. =D

Why are my chapters getting shorter? o_o


	13. Chapter 13

Author notes: It appears fanfiction-net is having some problems with reviews. They don't appear in the 'review' tab and are VERY slow getting to my email. Hmm. I'm assuming they have some weird backlog or error going on their end. If you REALLY want to send word along to me, feel free to IM me, email me directly, send a note through fanfiction-net (THOSE seem to be working) or whatever. I like talking to people. XD

Every single OC here was made up on the spot and will almost certainly not be seen again. The color choices were either randomly generated or gotten by 'Quick! Give me two random colors!' messages through IM to friends. Names were either made up or picked by a 'random page' click on the Transformers wikia. If any of them resemble OCs of yours, it's sheer coincidence.

..RESPOND TIME, YAY!

Tugera: I imagine there's more to Lugnut than anyone can see. Even loyal fanatics have hobbies. ;)

Sweetyamiyugigirl: For some reason, my brain insists Starscream is rather.. Uncaring about the whole mess. He has no spark of his own, so what does he care? He's probably moping that as soon as he has no spark, all this is going on. XD

DreamStoryWeaver: Sorry, should have clarified; it wasn't the Nemesis, but a smaller fighter ship. Not that it matters in the end, though, huh? XD And I wanted to include a Megatron POV, but my brain hasn't solidified on it properly yet. Maybe next chapter. As for getting as far as they did so fast.. Space bridges?

-----------------------------

_Brushing, touching, feeling on your shoulders_

_Believing, appealing, kneeling in your worlds_

_Oceans are combined_

_Find the little evil perpetrator_

_And feed him to the hungry alligator_

_You want it all, you want it all_

_Love is not about the profits_

_Not the riches in your dreams_

_The arms of time are breaking off_

_Civilization is on trial_

_The clock's eliminating time_

_Do you believe in me?_

-- 'Beethoven's C***', Serj Tankien

**Streamline: Chapter Thirteen**

-----------------------------

Blurr was completely and utterly unsurprised to learn that his repairs had been postponed. Instead, the rescue craft he had wound up on was heading for the Elite Guard headquarters. He had expected as much; the Council typically wanted information as soon as they could get it, even if it meant putting off the comfort of the bot they wanted to question.

What he hadn't expected was for the council chambers to be full; usually, only the highest of the various orders would be there. Instead, every section of the vast theatre was packed.

The speedster limped in; one leg had been badly damaged during the crazed space-bound firefight and now refused to function properly. It ached terribly and restricted his speed; there had been a time not too long ago that the temporary loss of one leg would have caused him to panic.

Despite being given a chair for his comfort, he refused to use it; instead, he forced himself in to a salute, wincing slightly at various pains as he did so. His entire life had been geared towards serving in the military and he had hoped to attain a high rank; he did not want to appear weak. Not here, at least; not now.

"Intelligence officer Blurr." Ultra Magnus stood at the center, of course; he had only recently woken from spark support, but appeared as if he had never been injured to begin with. Blurr envied that ability; Ultra Magnus always recovered incredibly fast. "I apologize for delaying your repairs, but it was necessary to call this meeting as soon as possible."

"Iunderstand, sir." Blurr looked up at the imposing Magnus. "Iwouldhavebeensurprisedifyou_didn't_callmeinhere."

Ultra Magnus looked down at the speedster; for a moment, Blurr could have sworn he saw pity. He didn't like it. "Agent Blurr, we have received preliminary reports about your capture at the hands of the Decepticon Shockwave, as well as your subsequent rescue. However, we have no concrete information about what transpired in that time. Our records require a first-hand account whenever possible, as you know."

Blurr had hoped the reports from Sentinel Prime would have been enough; his spark sank at the thought of actually talking about what had happened in front of all these people. "Whatdoyouwanttoknow, sir?"

"As much as you can tell us, soldier." Ultra Magnus frowned slightly.

Blurr paused; he glanced around at the packed room for several seconds. The quick-paced mech had never taken his reports slow before and he received several surprised looks from those that knew him. For the first time in his recollection, Perceptor appeared concerned.

A deep intake came and went. "IwasheldcaptivebytheDecepticonShockwaveforapproximatelythreesolarcycles. Myinternalchronometerhadbeendamaged, soitmayhavebeenlongerbutIcan'treallysayforsure. Itmayhavebeenaslongasfive, buttherewasnowaytotellthetime."

"You've been missing for three months, Agent Blurr." Ultra Magnus frowned.

Blurr was taken aback for a moment, troubled by the only explanation he could come up with. "WhenLongarmPrimerevealedhimselftome, hecrushedmyentireframewithawall. Shockwavemusthavetakenthetimetorepairme."

"Do you know the purpose, the reason why a Decepticon would go through the trouble?" By his tone, Ultra Magnus already knew. It seemed this was only for the official record.

Blurr let out a soft sigh. "Shockwaveofferedmeas.. AgifttoMegatron."

Several surprised and stunned expressions crossed the myriad of mechs and femmes at other stations; Blurr wondered just how confidential all the information had been if even other council members hadn't known about it.

Ultra Magnus had that slightly saddened expression again. "But you were not given to Megatron." It was not a question.

"No, sir." Blurr shifted in place; he wondered if he could skate about what actually happened while still giving a full report. "Bythatpoint, MegatronallreadyhadpossessionofthemaintenancebotknownasBumblebee."

"According to our report from Sentinel Prime, Shockwave forced you to sparkbond with him. Is this true, Agent Blurr?" Ultra Magnus frowned sadly.

"What?!" A small red mech at the station reserved for the Intelligence sector -- where Longarm Prime had once sat -- jumped up and looked from Blurr to Ultra Magnus in stunned shock. Various other mechs and femmes had similar expressions, but none were quite as vocal. "They're kidnapping our own officers for this, now?!"

"Cliffjumper Prime, sit down." Ultra Magnus sighed.

Blurr boggled; Cliffjumper _Prime_? When did _that_ happen? He had to shake himself slightly to regain focus. "Thereportisaccurate, sir."

"Sentinel Prime's report also indicates that you're also carrying."

"Thatisalsoaccurate, sir." Blurr shut off his optics and turned his head away, unable to take the myriad of faces staring at him.

"Let it be stated in the records, then." Ultra Magnus's voice was softer, now. "This is getting out of hand."

"The Decepticons have begun to attack neutral territories." A tall blue mech Blurr didn't recognize glanced around the council chambers. "We can't ignore what's obviously going on."

"What _is_ going on?" Cliffjumper Prime still appeared shellshocked. "They've been attacking our ships left and right, these days. Are the Decepticons hunting..?"

"The Decepticons, Cliffjumper Prime.." Ultra Magnus took in a deep intake. "Are trying to breed an army."

Quite a number of horrified gasps and whispers circled the antechamber; the connotations of what this meant for an entire generation of Autobots -- especially now that many had settled in to all facets of society, unprotected -- was staggering. The wording Ultra Magnus had used swirled in Blurr's processor, suddenly realizing just how badly things could have been.

Somehow, he had been under the impression that the forced binding he had been subjected to was simply for Shockwave's sick pleasure and that the sparklings growing inside his chassis had been accidental. The concept that it had not only been purposeful, but that the Decepticons had intended to use him to create soldier after soldier was absolutely terrifying. His processor refused to let go of the visual images of where he had almost wound up -- where Bumblebee likely was now -- and where he could still end up being.

The world swam. Blurr felt Cybertron plummet beneath him; the next thing he knew was that he was on the floor. Several stunned yelps went through the air.

"What the slag?!"

"Someone get a medic!"

"His intake isn't functioning!"

"_Breathe_, Blurr!" Was that Perceptor? "You're overheating! Breathe!"

"He's having a panic attack! Get him on the gurney!"

Blurr barely felt himself being lifted, vision still swimming before his optics. His entire frame felt as if it were on fire, processor still stuck in deep, terrible thoughts. He barely realized that he was in the cabin of an ambulance bot.

-----------------------------

_Where was his brother?_

_Jetstorm looked around the abyss of space as laser fire and debris flew haphazardly around him. When the Elite Guard ship had torn apart, he and his brother had been sitting on opposite sides of the control center; when the natural pull that was the nothingness of space came, they were pulled in opposite directions from separate seams in the hull._

_He couldn't sense his brother; their twin sparks had created a telepathic sensory bind since birth that had never failed him before. Now, he felt nothing; an emptiness where his brothers' mind would have lingered._

_They had both been recovering from severe injuries when the attack came; the unbidden, terrible thought that his brother could possibly be offline caused a shiver to run through his frame even as he dodged a Decepticon ship's tractor beam._

_Jetstorm fled from laser fire and beams alike for several long breems, looking for any sign of a familiar bright orange body._

_Where was Jetfire?!_

_Only when he started to consider looking for a gray, matted corpse did he feel the familiar telepathic presence return; relief coursed through him._

_"Brother!" Jetstorm almost laughed from sheer giddy relief. "Brother, where are you?!"_

_"Ow.. Can we get number of planet that hit us?" Jetfire's grogginess could be felt; perhaps he had only been tossed in to temporary stasis. "I am.. I.." A sudden terror came through the connection._

_"Brother?!" Jetstorm looked around, taking only a brief moment to fly in the direction he felt his brother was at._

_"I am in Decepticon ship!" Jetfire wailed internally, terrified. _

_Almost as soon as he heard the frightened cry, Jetstorm spotted the Decepticon vessel in question, guided by senses honed since birth. It was not the flagship, but it was still an armed ship and it likely had a large crew. Jetfire growled to himself, flying right for the craft._

_He would not leave his brother behind._

_"What are you doing?!" Jetfire could feel his approach. "You will become captured, also!"_

_"I do not care!" Jetstorm flew right for the ship; he allowed the deep glow of a tractor beam to pull him in. "Where you are going, I am going!" _

_Still, Jetfire's worry could be felt; Jetstorm knew his twin would be doing the exact same thing if their roles had been switched._

_The crimson beam pulled him in; the small door slid open, revealing several grinning faces peering down at him. He hadn't even been pulled all the way in when sound returned to his physical senses._

_"Oh, my, my, my.." A deep, gleeful voice crooned from inside the ship; the malice was practically tangible. "I've never seen an Autobot with amber optics before. Beautiful.. I may just take you for myself."_

_Jetstorm felt something deep inside him break; he shrieked in fury, wind swirling about him with a sudden gust, pushing Decepticons aside. He only had to raise a hand to summon a great swirling vortex down one hall, ripping mechanical limbs apart without so much as a real thought. Then, he turned and glared._

_Jetfire's wide optics met his own, but the orange twin's hands were bound behind his back. A tall, clunky black and red mech still had one claw-like appendage around the fiery twin's face._

_"Get off of my brother!" Jetstorm shrieked; he raised both hands, releasing another strong gust of wind. It smacked right in to the stunned Decepticon, sending him flying down the hall. Then, he ran to his bound brothers' side. "Brother!"_

_"I am being okay!" Still, Jetfire shuddered a little. "I am not able to get cuffs off..!"_

_Jetstorm didn't take the time to try; he picked up his twin and ran back for the still open door to space. The tractor beam glowed softly, ready to be used; a swirl of wind broke apart its' control panel._

_The beam shut down and the vacuum of space pulled them in of it's own accord. Clinging to his brother, Jetstorm flew as fast as he could to the swimming debris that was once their own craft. It took several cycles to find a floating, dead turbine; it was just large enough for the twins to huddle inside and hide._

_Unless someone looked directly in to the disconnected enclosure, no one would find them. Both twins huddled together, hiding; they would wait until the fight ended. Only then would they take the risk to call home._

-----------------------------

The fact that the flagship Nemesis had a brig wasn't what surprised Bumblebee as he was almost gently pushed in to the small cell. After all, even the much smaller Elite Guard crafts had cell blocks of their own. It was only common sense that the large warship -- practically a floating city all it's own -- would have an inbuilt prison.

What was surprising, however, was that he was there at all. When he had been recaptured despite being so close to Cybertron and everything that had happened -- it had all been in vain, it seemed --, he had assumed Megatron would bring him to his private chambers. He had expected a repeat of his original captivity.

Instead, here he was; he wasn't bound, but all his weapons were gone. His stingers were useless with their electricity cut off and the sharp tips couldn't exactly cut through energy bars. There was no way he could get out of the cell; even if he did, he doubted he would be able to leave all the other prisoners behind.

Dozens of mechs and femmes were in a similar bind, captured in either the firefight or elsewhere; the other cells were packed full. Why he was left alone in the largest cell in the back, though, he didn't know.

Silence passed for a very long time. The other cells had the occasional whisper, but nervous fear kept the majority of them mute. Nothing happened for quite a few breems.

Eventually, the large door at the very end of the corridor slid open and a myriad of Decepticons strode in. With the cell positioned where it was, Bumblebee could look directly down the corridor, taking in the sight of so many with trepidation.

The pack leader -- a gray and burgundy seeker -- smirked wickedly. "All right, boys, you know the drill. I want every single spark in here checked out, even the big ones. The last thing we need is for the boss to find out some femme disguised themselves in a big frame or something else that we missed. All femmes and B-Class mechs in the back cell. Leave the rest where they are."

Well, that explained why he was already in the large cell; Bumblebee had a feeling this wouldn't go well for the other Autobot prisoners at all. As the Decepticons stormed the cells beyond his vision -- he could see them go inside the cells, but walls prevented any further sight --, yelps and the sound of metal meeting metal rang through the brig.

Bumblebee let out a soft sigh, sitting against the wall; he assumed the other Autobots would put up a fight but seriously doubted they would get very far. They were, after all, in the heart of the Nemesis. The resistance did not last long; the small screams and crackles of spark chambers being forced open echoed in multitude.

Bumblebee didn't even bother to get up when the cell door opened and several Autobots were thrown in. Considering how many prisoners there were, the small group of half a dozen -- and two were older femmes -- was a bit of a surprise; were so many of his generation hiding, even from military ranks?

Most of them bore grim expressions as they waited the inevitable. They had been trained to be soldiers and there was a certain expectation when capture occurred. Only one of the six appeared to be handling the situation badly; a slim orange and blue mech with a low-rank insignia. A new recruit, likely; he didn't look like a fighter, at any rate. One of the hatches holding his spark chamber shut appeared to be broken, hanging uselessly.

"Oh slag oh slag oh slag.." The mech was curled up against the wall, intake fast and panic visible.

"Kid, acting like that ain't gonna help." One of the femmes with a soul visibly worn from stellar cycles of combat sighed softly. "These are Decepticons. They like it when we're afraid." She peered at the nearly hyperventilating mech. Slight wonder slowly crossed her face. "..You're fresh out of boot camp, ain't ya?"

The slim mech whimpered and nodded ever so slightly.

Bumblebee couldn't help but wince at that. "Slag, I'm so sorry.."

"What?" The femme quickly looked to the yellow bot. "You're.. Bumblebee, huh?" At the slight nod, a bitter smile crossed her face. "Kid, we're Autobots. We don't ever leave our own behind if we can help it. It ain't you're fault we're in here."

"You wouldn't be in here if you didn't have to save my aft." Bumblebee disagreed with a sigh.

"Name's Fragment, kid." The femme grinned wryly. "Hope we get to meet up again at some point. I mean, after these turbo-rat spawned glitches separate us." She grumbled bitterly.

Bumblebee only let out a soft sigh, feeling a pang of guilt deep in his processor.

-----------------------------

_Being that I love you so much_

_In the end, they all will say_

_Breaking someone else's heart again_

_The arms of time are breaking off_

_Civilization is on trial_

_The clock's eliminating time_

_Do you believe in me?_

-- 'Beethoven's C***', Serj Tankien

-----------------------------

Author notes: Yeah, I am still and always will take suggestions. Feel free to contact me in any format you desire. SEND ME AN OWL. :D


	14. Chapter 14

Author Notes: Yeah, yeah, I know this is late. Pffft. XD

...I think I'm about to wrap this fic up. One more epilogue after this, I think, and then.. Yeah, we're good. Huh. Fastest fic I've ever wrote, too. ..I feel weird.

RESPOND TIME, YAY!

Charisma B: ..Do Transformers HAVE mood medications? XD

DreamStoryWeaver: I always imagined that if one of the twins were in true, serious danger, the other would just go batshit crazy and kick everyones' ass. There's stories about mothers lifting cars with their bare hands to save their kids and I just thought the twins would have a similar thing going with them. TWIN POWAH. :D ..And, yes, both are B-Class also. As for your suggestions.. Do these work out?

Sweetyamiyugigirl: As stated to Dream above, yes, both twins are of the same generation as Bee.

SusieSaysNo: You don't 'OMG' often, yet you did four times in that one review. I feel honored. XD And why did the song "Reunited, and it feels so good!" go off in my head when I read your review? o_o

Smurf Setsuka: I hope this pleases your inner fangirl. :D ..I can't figure out how to bring Lugnut back in this, but he's mentioned, at least? XD

---------------------------------------------

_Is this home?_

_Is this where I should learn to be happy?_

_Never dreamed _

_That a home could be dark and cold_

_I was told_

_Every day in my childhood,_

_Even when we grow old:_

_Home will be where the heart is_

_Never were words so true_

_My heart's far, far away_

_Home is, too_

-- 'Home', Beauty and the Beast (Broadway)

---------------------------------------------

Sentinel Prime had never been so happy in his life.

It had never occurred to the typically angry and brutish -- although he considered himself 'self-confident' -- Prime that he actually cared about people. Sentinel prided himself in making his way through the ranks all on his own; no help from anyone, no favors owed.

Yet, when he had heard that Jetfire and Jetstorm had not only been found but found _alive_, he had been almost giddy in relief. He couldn't even explain to himself why he rushed to the hospital the twins had been taken to just to make sure they were really there.

Jazz, at least, was visibly surprised to see him there. "S.P.?" Despite the visor, he was clearly boggling.

"Are they okay, Jazz?" Sentinel couldn't hide the worry.

"Uhm.. It.. Uh.. Yeah. As far's the docs told me. They're gonna be in here a while, but, uh, yeah." Jazz sputtered. "..You okay, S.P.?"

"I'm fine. Perfect." The typical gruff expression was forced on his faceplate lest he lose his reputation. "Just wanted to make sure the brats were still good to go. Last thing I need is to train a couple of newbies and go through all that mess again..!" He turned to walk off, making extra certain he stomped away.

The Prime didn't have to look at Jazz to know he had all out baffled the former ninja. Truth be told, he had surprised himself.

---------------------------------------------

_Everything was going according to plan._

_Granted, there had been a few bumps in the road and unexpected obstacles, but, for the most part, Megatron was really rather pleased with how it had all gone. After all, no plan of such magnitude could be expected to go off without a hitch; lesser plans have ended up with worse results._

_It had all started when the Allspark was hidden. From the moment it was gone, the Decepticon lord had known it would be a problem; without the Allspark to bring new Decepticons to life, their numbers could and likely would dwindle very quickly. The fact that the Autobots had ended up in the same situation didn't stop him from the worry of losing the war from lack of numbers alone_

_No one had learned about the last generations' gift -- or curse, as some perceived -- until nearly a vorn after the Allspark's vanishing act. Initially, Megatron had laid down strict laws to protect the Decepticon children; the last thing he had wanted was for the Decepticon cause to be hurt even further by the decimation of future troops._

_Still, he had done the math; if the status quo remained, the Autobots would outnumber them. Within half a millennia, the youngest generation would join the fray of battle against them; they had to overpower their enemy by any means possible, even if it meant playing such a wicked game._

_The original laws were never repelled; they were simply appended. Decepticon youth would be protected at all costs and encouraged to breed as soon as they were old enough to bear healthy offspring. Too young an age and both parent and sparkling had a strong chance of death; a 'legal age' had been set in to law. That law, however, did not extend to Autobot prisoners._

_The Decepticon ranks had been encouraged to find the B-Class Autobots and neutrals -- the 'B' had intended to indicate a secondary class, but many had taken it to mean 'breeder' -- and create offspring. Even sparklings that were only half Decepticon could be trained to be great warriors. The top scientists had even created guidelines on how often to interface and the best time to do so in order to create the healthiest and strongest children; surprisingly, many followed the guidelines with an almost religious fervor._

_Even those that had found Decepticon femmes to mutually bond with had followed the guidelines; Lugnut, unquestionably the most loyal of loyalists, had wound up with three sparklings in twice as many stellar cycles before he and his consort had been separated due the situation on Earth._

_The dreadful fiasco in question had delayed his plans and, for a time, Megatron had feared his forces would be too focused on searching for their warlord to recall the original goal. Stellar cycles of being little more than a skull with a spark allowed him to think and watch the little organic-ridden planet he had been trapped on. When the small band of maintenance Autobots had emerged, sheer boredom had him spying upon them for hours on end._

_Perhaps it was all for the best; from the start, he had noticed the three younger Autobots. The former ninja, the bulky green one and the small yellow one. Any or all of the three could be of that generation; in some cases, astroseconds separated those that were from those that weren't._

_Megatron had woken from recharge one morning to overhear a particularly interesting conversation; he hadn't heard the start of it or what spurred such a topic, but it ended up being the answer to all of his musings._

_"They're Decepticons..!" The green one he would later learn was named Bulkhead had whispered with some fear. "You know what they say they do to prisoners, right?"_

_"There is nothing to worry about." The ninja had sighed and rubbed his faceplate. "The fact that there are Decepticons here doesn't mean any of us are in any danger. Besides which, I seriously doubt any of us are that young."_

_"Would it matter to those creeps even if we weren't?" Bulkhead whimpered, tapping his servos together nervously. "I mean, I was sparked only a couple of months before it happened.."_

_"Bulkhead, calm down. I understand your worry, but none of us have that problem." The ninja had turned to look at the small yellow one. "Isn't that right, Bumblebee?"_

_The yellow one shifted in place. He then rubbed the back of his head and glanced to the floor. "..Yeah, about that.."_

_That was the moment Megatron decided to capture the yellow one as soon as he was able. The small Autobot was actually larger and likely older than the five he had attempted to copulate with back on the Nemesis; all five had offlined in the attempt, but if the one here could survive it.._

_Well, if worse came to worse, he would simply dump the corpse by that warehouse the Autobots claimed as a base. The humans had an odd phrase for such a situation; no skin off of his back._

_Once he did possess a body, the Decepticon lord had waited. He did not want the Autobots to get suspicious or overly worried; if they were tipped off about just how much he knew about their own and what he intended, they would likely protect the youngest. A couple of months came and went before he made his move and calmly strode in to that wretched warehouse in the dead of night._

_The yellow one had been recharging on a couch, television still on with a device humans called a 'video game'. The Autobot had actually woken up for a moment and stared right at him; panic lit his frame but had never had the chance to scream or call for help. At least, not with the syringe jammed in to a vital fluid line in his neck that knocked him back in to recharge. Then, Megatron had simply picked him up and walked out with him._

_It had taken longer than expected to return to the hidden base on the other side of the world; a curious weather phenomenon known as a 'blizzard' had stalled the craft. Primus himself must have been smiling down at him for the yellow Autobot to stay unconscious as long as he had; he didn't wake from recharge until he was well restrained inside the hidden base in question._

_After that first failed bonding attempt, Megatron had known the Autobot was perfect. The others had all wailed and wept before their spark extinguished themselves; this one had not only put up a fight, but had won that first round. Not only would he serve the desired purpose; the sparklings might even have that same stubborn spirit._

_The Autobots' rescue had been another delay; oh, Megatron knew his property wouldn't be able to flee for long. The bounty had been placed up as nothing more than a message to the yellow one; there was no where to run. It also had the wonderful effect of having his entire forces eagerly hunting the child and the blue mech Shockwave had claimed._

_In the end, the Autobot he had designated Goldbug -- a little golden trophy, an insect he could trap and squash if he so chose -- had been recaptured. He had been almost giddy with dark glee; for some time, he had worried that his first born would be sparked in Autobot territory._

_Yet, now here the little insect was; there had been nowhere to run and no where to hide._

_Goldbug was his and his alone._

---------------------------------------------

The brig has been left to itself for quite a few hours. No Decepticon entered the cell blocks since a small number of their prisoners had been placed in the largest cage in the back. Perhaps their captors intended to leave them to their terrors and imaginations for a time; a shapeless torture and dark cloud shifted over them all as a result.

However, the long hours left to themselves gave the prisoners the time to talk and get to know each other. Doomed sparks let themselves speak of the past -- tales of victorious adventure, family and friends throughout the universe, lessons they had learned -- and rarely delved in to truly dark topics. This was likely their last chance at even temporary joy and they did not want to waste it.

Even Bumblebee fell in to the strange calm; it was as if the motley crew of captured Autobots were trying to have at least someone else know that they had existed, even if those they spoke to were just as doomed.

Bumblebee was deep in to a humorous story involving strange small organic children and a holiday involving eggs and small furry creatures called 'bunnies' when an unnatural sound rent the air. It was merely a soft set of beeps, but it was enough to silence and still every single mech and femme there.

Someone was punching in the code to open the main brig door. A quick check with his internal chronometer told Bumblebee how long they had been talking and, more importantly, what time it was.

"Oh slag, oh slag, oh slag..!" The orange and blue mech who everyone simply knew wouldn't survive for very long curled up against a taller, just as nervous cellmate.

"I don't think they're here for any of you." Bumblebee frowned deeply, shuttering his optics. He stood slowly, looking to the door at the end of the long corridor. "Wish we could've met in a better way. I don't think we'll ever see each other again."

A femme he had learned was called Fragment stared at the yellow mech in mild confusion. "How do you..?"

The door slid open; Megatron himself strode in with a stoic expression, flanked by two underlings Bumblebee didn't recognize. Despite intentions otherwise, the yellow Autobot found himself trembling slightly.

It was just like before; the Decepticon lord always came at exactly the same time.

Megatron did not smile. He simply looked down at the yellow mech with cold crimson optics. "Welcome home, Goldbug."

Fists clenched at his side as fury spiked; Bumblebee glared at the large gray mech. "That's not my name, and this isn't my home."

The Decepticon lord did not respond. Instead, he glanced to one of the other Decepticons. The underling in question shut down the energy bars around the cell and strode in, grinning wickedly with a collar and chain in hand.

Bumblebee hissed at the sight of the dreadfully familiar collar but did not resist; he had the feeling that if he did, the other prisoners would be hurt. It wasn't as if there was anywhere he could run to even if he did. Instead, he flexed and clenched his fists, shaking in a mix of fury and fear.

The collar was fastened shut with a soft mechanical whirr; the snake chain leash was set in one large gray servo. The Decepticon lord turned to walk away, tugging on the chain; Bumblebee had very little choice but to follow, sparing one final glance to the prisoners left behind.

The Autobots held in the other cells -- the walking offline, destined for nothing more than torture, interrogation and death -- looked through the bars of their own prisons in absolute silence. They all knew who the small yellow mech was, why he was there and where he was going; the expressions varied slightly, but a constant theme reverberated in the form of sympathy.

Bumblebee decided that the universe must have truly warped for the dead to pity the living.

Megatron led the recaptured Autobot out of the brig and down several halls. Despite that numerous Decepticons saw him and looked upon him, none dared make a sound beyond a few spare snickers; a dead silence was all that greeted the furiously terrified mech along the short journey.

Eventually, a large door at the very end of a long hallway came about. The Decepticon lord tapped in a few quick keys in to a console before the door slid open; Bumblebee was pulled inside what could only be Megatron's private chambers.

This room was even larger than the one on Earth; one entire wall was a window that peered in to the glittering stars of space. Shelves of datapads -- novels, literature, textbooks, who knew what else -- lay against the wall by a very expensive looking berth. Rather comfortable looking seats and even a couch littered the floor along the way and, for reasons Bumblebee didn't even try to fathom, what looked like an in-floor jacuzzi was in the center of it all.

The snake chain was disconnected from the collar. Bumblebee blinked in surprise, having expected to be chained by the berth. It was an almost mocking freedom to still be with the collar but not the chain.

"You will not be tethered for the duration of your carrying stage." Megatron spoke calmly, not reacting to the returned growl and deep glare. "You will be allowed to walk around my chambers until the sparkling is born and you will not share my berth until thirty solar cycles after that event. However.." The Decepticon's stoic face shifted in to a dangerous frown. "If you dare to damage any of my property, including yourself, I will not hesitate to punish you whether you carry or not. Is that understood?"

Bumblebee said nothing; he simply glared.

"Good. If you attempt to leave this room, the collar will knock you in to stasis. Do not attempt to escape." Without another word, Megatron turned and left; the door slid shut behind him.

Only when the large gray mech was gone did Bumblebee allow himself to breathe; he took in a deep intake to try and settle the deep fear forming in his core. He had thought being a prisoner on Earth was bad enough; he had never even heard of an Autobot escaping the Decepticon flagship in one piece.

The collar was given an experimental tug; unsurprisingly, the pull did nothing. With a deep, shuddering sigh, Bumblebee walked towards the window. He could actually see the brightly shining star that was Cybertron fading in the distance.

He had been so close; safety had been in reach and had been missed by so very little.

Bumblebee rested his forehead against the tempered glass and offlined his optics; the small Autobot stayed that way for several minutes, absorbed deeply in to self pity and fear.

After some time, a familiar fluttering brushed against his processor. Without much of a thought, Bumblebee answered it.

_"Hey, Prowl."_

_"Bumblebee!"_ Prowl's terror was nearly tangible. _"Sari just called us..!"_

Oh. _"Is Sari all right?"_

_"Sari's fine, everyone else is all right as far as she told us, but she said you.. The Decepticons.."_

Bumblebee onlined his optics again and stared at his reflection in the glass; the collar stuck out like a bruised servo. _"Yup. I'm on the Nemesis, Prowl. I'm pretty much slagged."_

_"Primus..!"_ Prowl sounded ready to swear; the thought of oh-so-serious, cyberninja Prowl letting out a swear almost made him smile. _"Bumblebee, we won't leave you there..!"_

_"I know you won't, ninja-bot. I don't think anyone on Cybertron is going to help, though."_ A determined expression crossed his face. _"I'm going to keep giving these fraggers the Pit, here. I'm going to try getting out on my own, but I need you to tell the others not to risk their lives for me."_

_"What?"_ Prowl sounded completely surprised. _"Bumblebee..?"_

_"The last thing I want is for all of you to offline when I'm pretty much fragged as it is."_ Bumblebee took in a deep intake. _"..Can you keep doing this crazy processor-over-matter telepathy thing for me, though? I think I'm going to go insane otherwise."_

A soft brush went over his processor; the closest thing to a comforting hug Prowl could send. _"Of course. I'll contact you every solar cycle if I can."_

Bumblebee allowed himself a small smile at that; at least he'll have one remaining link to his old life. _"Thanks, ninja-bot."_ The smile slowly faded. _"..I guess the good guys don't always win, huh?"_

---------------------------------------------

_Just in case_

_I should stay here forever_

_Held in this empty space_

_Oh, but that won't be easy;_

_I know the reason why_

_My heart's far, far away_

_Home's a lie_

_Is this home?_

_Am I here for a day or forever?_

_Shut away_

_From the world until who knows when_

_Oh, but then_

_As my life has been altered once,_

_It can change again_

_Build higher walls around me_

_Change every lock and key_

_Nothing lasts, nothing holds_

_All of me_

_My heart's far, far away_

_Home and free_

-- 'Home', Beauty and the Beast (Broadway)


	15. Epilogue

Author notes: And, with this mini epilogue.. We're done. May or may not be a sequel. We'll see what happens.

... How the heck did I write 40,000 words in a month and a half?

Now, the final respond time. YAY!

Smurf Setsuka: Lugnut so seems like the sort to have sparklings just to bring more loyal Decepticons to his Lord. Doesn't he? XD ..And why does there always have to be a happy ending? Sometimes, bad guys win. Mmhmm.

Rose Wyrm: On the Serenity thing.. Maaaybe. Honestly, I just picked the first words that came to mind. But Firefly IS an awesome series, so it maybe sortof almost is a mini reference? ..From my subconscious?

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_Here we are now, going to the north side_

_I look at my friends as they start to ride_

_Ride all night and we ride all day_

_Looking out for a sunny day_

_Here we are now, going to the south side_

_I pick up my friends and we hope we won't die_

_Ride at night, ride through Heaven and Hell_

_Come back, love, and feel so well_

-- 'South Side', Moby

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At first, Blurr had been disturbed and wary by the extra attention he had been given. By the time he had woken up from what the medics dubbed a 'panic attack', it seemed that just about everyone in the Elite Guard complex knew exactly who he was and exactly why he was there.

As a soldier, he had fantasized about fame; now, he wasn't quite so sure he wanted it, anymore.

Months came and went; the now-former intelligence officer -- he had never been stripped of the title per se, but it wasn't as if he could go on any missions -- had been all but locked away in the expansive campus. The small technorganic known as Sari was with him nearly all the time. Over the course of the first few days, they had become close friends; they had even mourned the loss of Bumblebee together.

The field disrupters set around the interconnected Elite Guard buildings prevented Decepticons from getting a precise lock on his signal and even helped keep Shockwave out of his processor as he slept; he was safe, there. Even if he couldn't actually leave.

Being unable to leave -- being unable to go to all his favorite places on Cybertron, being unable to even go outside, being unable to run where he pleased -- still felt like something of a cage, but at least it was a gilded cage; he didn't have to be afraid of claws scraping his frame or of an attack on his very spark.

By some miracle, he had never been forced to upgrade to a femme's chassis; instead, his frame had merely been extended a few inches and internal systems moved around. There was just enough room for the twin sparklings to grow, or so the scientists had claimed. His changed frame didn't even interfere with the joy of running.

The Elite Guard were nothing else if not paranoid; a pair of guards had been with the blue speedster at all times, even when he would run laps in the inbuilt gym, they were with him. It was nearly a full steller cycle after the horrible misadventure that ended his old life when he began to feel pain from his spark chamber.

Blurr skid to a halt in the middle of the racetrack; as if on cue, the two officers stationed with him for the day rushed to his side.

"Agent Blurr?" A burly yellow and red mech frowned slightly. "Are you all right?"

"I.." Blurr paused a moment; by itself, it was a cause of worry. "..Idon'tknow. MysparkchamberhurtsalittlebutIgetthatsometimes --" Another flash of pain -- stronger, certainly more poignant -- raced along his frame. "Okaythat'salittlenew. Ow ow ow ow ow."

A red mech nearly identical to the yellow tapped at his comm as the two began to lead him along. "Medics, incoming sparkling purge. Be advised."

"Purge?" Blurr blinked once, trying to wrap his pained processor around the code word. "..WaitacycleholdonholdonI'm_havingthesparklings?! Now?!_"

In the months of preparation for the event, the medics had warned Blurr that there would be incredible pain. In a normal situation involving femmes, it was one spark physically breaking free from another. In a situation involving twins, it could be all the more difficult. However, no medic had any information on how a mech of his generation would handle it; the former intelligence officer was literally the first in Autobot territory to have sparklings.

Blurr was the precedent the rest of his generation would go by; simply having sparklings changed the textbooks.

With pain increasing by the astrosecond, he barely noticed when they arrived at the medical bay. He winced and whimpered a little as he was helped to a gurney and laid back. There weren't enough words or warnings in the universe that could have prepared him for the pain.

A medic opened his spark chamber; he didn't try to resist, instead actively attempting to get the latches open faster. The sooner the sparklings were out, the better. "HolymotherofPrimuswhere'sthe_slagging_EMP?!"

"No time to get the EMP." An entirely too calm medic looked at him. "Going to have to do this the hard way. Just try to relax, Blurr."

"Relax?! _Relax?!_" There had been a warning, as well, that he might end up feeling terrible rage from the minor glitches the situation caused. "Don'ttellmetoslaggingrelax!"

The medical staff didn't so much as blink; it appeared they had been prepared for the fury. A small table was wheeled to his side; the pain-filled mech caught sight of two very small, blank and gray protoforms.

"Okay, Agent Blurr, I need to touch your spark to get the sparklings out." A steady-toned femme looked at him square in the optics. "It's going to hurt, but it's the only and best way to safely get their sparks free from yours."

Blurr only nodded; when he had first read about this particular subject, he had been horrified and hadn't known how he could handle it. Now that he was actually there and in pain, he found that he didn't care what they did. He just wanted the sparklings out and the pain to stop.

Still, he winced and yelped when the femme's servos slowly dug past the spark chambers' shields. It wasn't quite as intrusive as a bonding -- she never dug that deep --, but between the hands and the natural pains, it was getting a bit too much.

Before he could think of asking her to get out, she already was. Blurr felt an odd pull followed by a sharp sting. Then, quite a bit of the pain was simply and suddenly gone.

He onlined optics he hadn't realized he had shut off to find the first tiny spark -- he had never seen a spark so small before, barely the size of a fingertip -- being set in to the casing of the first tiny protoform.

The second took longer to remove; a medic chuckled and mumbled something about a 'clingy kid' before they managed to finish the job. The pain completely evaporated with a startling suddenness; Blurr was left panting in shock. His intakes struggled to cool down overworked and overheated systems.

"OhmyPrimus. Iamneverevereverever_ever_goingthroughthatagain."

Then, a small wail went through the air. The textbooks had claimed that was normal, as well; it was when a newly protoformed sparkling _didn't_ cry that there was a problem. The first shriek was a sign that the tiny spark had properly connected itself to the protoform shell.

The femme medic cooed. "A little mech! Oh, he even has a little bit of color..!"

It wasn't altogether unnatural for a newspark to have color. However, it usually took until the second frame for such a thing to occur; the simple lack of personality usually left the first protoform to be a solid shade of white or black with very few physical accents.

A medic helped Blurr sit up and close shut his spark chamber; he was barely comfortable when the first still-crying infant was set in his arms. The other began to cry from the table as the speedster stared at the first. A slightly, very pale shade of blue; it was barely visible and nearly white, but it was certainly a color.

The firstsparked was starting to calm down when the second -- another tiny mech, but a solid white unlike his twin -- joined them. The wails of one only set off more cries from the other.

A medic laughed a little. "Ah, the cycle of sparklings begins. They always cry together."

Blurr couldn't help but smirk; the crying somehow didn't bother him. In fact, it sounded beautiful to his audio sensors.

It took a good few cycles for the two infants to stop setting off each others' wails; one began to numb on his own servo while his twin gradually calmed down without an echo to cry against.

"Whendotheyopentheiroptics?" Blurr smiled down at the sparklings. His sparklings. Shockwave be damned, these were _his_ sparklings.

"When they feel like it." A medic laughed. "You did wonderfully, Agent Blurr. Went off without a hitch, and you have two healthy little mechs. Not a single serious complication. You're going to have to stay here a couple of solar cycles just so we can watch over you, but after that.." A grin.

Blurr grinned in exhausted joy; the experience had taken quite a bit of energy out of his systems and he had absolutely no qualms about staying in bed.

He gazed down at the twins; the one gnawing on his own servo yawned widely and finally onlined his optics. As if on cue, his twin onlined his optics as well.

The smile vanished from Blurr's face. "..Oh, nononononono.."

"What? What's wrong?" A medic rushed to his side. "What -- .. Oh."

Four deep, innocent, wide little red optics stared back.

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_Here are in in a pouring home_

_I watch the light man fall the comb_

_I watch a light move across the screen_

_I watch the light come over me_

_Here we are now, going to the west side_

_Weapons in hand as we go for a ride_

_Some may come, love, and some may stay_

_Watching out for a sunny day_

_Where there's love and darkness_

_And my sidearm_

-- 'South Side', Moby

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Author Notes: Bwaha. With that, I bid you all, adieu. For now. I already have a few ideas for other fics, so.. Whee!


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